


Her Only Hope

by NyeLung



Series: Paradoxaverse [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Clone Wars, F/M, Post-Battle of Yavin, Time Travel, like glacial, slow-build relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2018-10-28 21:11:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10839537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyeLung/pseuds/NyeLung
Summary: Leia picks up an artefact just before being threatened by bounty hunter Boba Fett. Being thrown through time they end up in the first months of the Clone Wars. Meeting the heroes of her childhood's bedtime stories isn't that spectacular as Leia had hoped for. General Kenobi is a walking catastrophe, the Hero Without Fear also lacks common sense and Mace Windu has the shortest temper she ever encountered. And all the while she has to act the part of a scoundrel's child turned farmer because she can't very well out herself as the daughter of Bail and Breha Organa, can she? Add into that keeping her affinity to the Force a secret and a certain bounty hunter trailing along, because she's the only way back.





	1. Prologue: Unlikely Circumstances

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this one post on tumblr about Leia meeting General Kenobi and realizing that her father might have extrapolated his stories a bit: [tumblr-post](https://nyelung.tumblr.com/post/160163834315/a-very-short-star-wars-meta)  
> It was too hilarious an idea that I just had to try my hand at it and then things escalated.

# Her only hope

### Prologue: Unlikely Circumstances

No more alcoholic beverages of any kind that Wedge offered, Leia reminded herself upon waking and bit back a groan. Sweet ancestors, her head hurt. Most likely it had been some kind of Corellian Whiskey brewed illegally. Destroying the Death Star, just surviving that day, had been a reason valid enough to indulge herself in some drinking and partying with the rest of the Alliance. She should get up to help break down the base so they could move on before the Empire sent more troops.

That was the moment that Leia felt the thrum of hyper space engines at work in her bones. What the - ? She couldn't have been so out of it that she didn't wake up when someone moved her onto a ship that made the jump to light speed without her noticing. Leia shook her head and tried to recall more of the last night. Hopefully, she had only lost one night. Seriously, she shouldn't drink anything Wedge offered. Ever. Again.

No, that hadn't been the last night. They'd broken down that base a week ago. Leia had been part of a salvage team sent back to gather things that hadn't fit on the first transports. Those supplies would be nice to have but weren't immediately needed so they had risked to let it fall into Imperial hands and the threat of Imperials being on Yavin had been high. Leia had sill taken her chances. After sitting by idly during the battle of the Death Star, not able to do anything but give a few orders, she had to do something to redeem herself for leading the Empire right on their doorstep. Mon had protested, of course, but Leia had pointed out the effects on troop morale and taken the transport anyway.

Yes, she remembered now. While scouting the old temple that had been their HQ she had been separated from her group scavenging the old quarters for left behinds. Her headaches sent a particularly painful stab through her brain. There was more. It was just kind of blurry and hard to remember. She had found something … if she recalled correctly which she might not.

Leia sat upright. Right, she had picked up a kind of pendant. Two twinkling gems like red eyes sitting in a stylized skull. Her memories blurred again. She had been looking at the pendant for a while, feeling scrutinized by a vicious glare. That much she was pretty sure of. Then she only remembered a blaster rifle, a voice coming out of the vocoder of a helmet and how everything suddenly turned black.

Another stab into her brain. Leia finally tried to open her eyes. No blindfold, good. Just dim lights, also good considering her headache straight out of the Corellian Hells. She tried to move – which did hurt – but confirmed that she wasn't chained down. Very good. Or bad. If the bounty hunter had gotten her – or whoever that had been, maybe a pirate – and she wasn't bound, that meant that he didn't need to restrict her movements to keep her imprisoned.

She might as well get up and ignore the pain it would cause. Then look around where exactly she was because the room she was in felt too spacious to be a holding cell.

Leia didn't get to the second part due to the muzzle of a blaster rifle nuzzling her neck. Immediately, she stilled in her movement.

“What did you do?”, the vocoder voice asked. “Where are we?”

Carefully, Leia reached for her blaster because she did not want to upset a nervous, trigger-happy person with a blaster at her neck. “I just came to, so how should I know?”, she answered, finding something near her hip. Not a blaster, though, just that hideous pendant with the gleaming gemstone eyes.

“Stop it”, the vocoder voice ordered. “I took your weapons.”

“So?”, Leia asked. “What now?”

Only silence answered her.

“I can't answer your questions, so what now? Who are you anyway?”

“That's none of your concern, princess.” The blaster rifle was pushed a bit harder into her neck. “And keep your hands where I can see them.”

Leia sighed internally and turned around. This was not the worst situation she's gotten into. “So, you're a bounty hunter sent after me? What did they pay you?”

“Hands up. Show me that pendant.” A short silence of unspoken words. “And stop talking.”

Now Leia didn't hide her sigh but followed his orders. He had the weapons and although her head was being split in half by headaches, she could think consistently enough to not say any more. Instead she tried to remember with which bounty hunter she was dealing here. His gear was too specialized to be that of a pirate. She'd seen holo-images of him, she was sure of it. That t-shaped visor was quite difficult to forget. Maybe she should have paid more attention to his kind. After all, she had known that sooner or later she wouldn't be able to continue as a diplomat and would have to officially and publicly rebel. It had just still seemed so far away.

“Did your parents not teach you to not mess with Sith artefacts?”, the bounty hunter grumbled. He lowered his rifle. Any other bounty would have said something dramatic and threatening. He didn't need to. Leia understood him without him needing to tell her not to get any funny ideas. She wasn't exactly suicidal. No one messed with Boba Fett – she remembered his name now – and lived to tell the tale.

Leia didn't feel the need to answer him. She had been raised in the core and there had never been the need to teach her about artefacts that were the stuff of legends now. The Sith had always been a scary tale to get her into bed. She'd never really believed into them. Leia was starting to find some faith. “So, you're telling me that neither of us know where we are and all you can think of is trying to intimidate me?”

“You activated that artefact.” He seemed unfazed by the hilariousness of the situation. “Bring us back.”

“How? And anyway, you would just sell me out to the Empire.” Even if Leia knew how to activate that artefact she wouldn't.

“The price on your head isn't enough to make you worth my while so far”, he replied drily.

“What?”, she exclaimed.

“Silence!”

In the blink of an eye he stood up and moved towards a darker corner. Leia hadn't had the time before to take in the room. There were ammunition crates all around and a deactivated astromech droid. She blinked twice and moved into the shadows as well. If Fett had heard something or noticed something that alarmed him, it was most likely not good for her, too. If something unsettled him, it had to be bad.

The door to the ammunitions room swooshed open and Leia tried to conceal herself behind Fett. She didn't wear her white dress at the moment but his armour was better suited to stay in the shadows. Or absorb blaster bolts.

“I can feel you in there”, a voice yelled. “If you come out now, we will not shoot.”

“All right.” Leia ignored Fett completely. It would be hard to explain how she boarded this ship but better than to be suddenly thrown into a fire fight without a blaster of her own.

“All right?”, another voice whispered. “We never get only an _all right_.”

“Shush, Anakin. Be glad that it's not Geonosis all over again”, the first voice whispered back while Leia held up her hands and stepped out of Fett's shadow into the light of the door. With a slight movement of her hand she ordered him to follow her. This was a diplomatic situation. She knew how to work things here. Warily, Fett followed her, his blaster rifle at the ready.

“I'm not armed”, Leia started. “Please don't shoot.”

“Cody, step down”, the first voice ordered.

“I'm Leia. Who am I talking with?” She kept her hands in the air.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi”, the first voice introduced himself.

Leia blinked. “General Kenobi? But you're -” _Dead_ , she wanted to say. Leia bit her tongue just in time. The person in front of her was very much alive and far too young to be the General Kenobi who had fought alongside her father in the Clone Wars. “Different from what I expected.”

Someone – a young man with unruly hair and the most blue eyes Leia has ever seen – snorted. But then his face turned serious again in a matter of milliseconds. “So, what are you doing on our ship?” 

“I have no idea how I got here.” She stemmed her hands into her sides. “And he just tagged along somehow.” She didn't tell them that this was Boba Fett, a bounty hunter who might or might not have tried to kill her just minutes ago. It wouldn't help her situation now to complicate matters any further. She could deal with it later. After she had wrapped her head around the mystery of this General Kenobi.

“Mandalorian, eh?”, the young man asked and looked warily at Fett. “Well, the General's got some friends there.”

“Anakin, I told you not to call me that”, General Kenobi sighed exasperatedly.

“Anakin?”, Leia piped up. “Anakin Skywalker? The Hero Without Fear?” Oh, she had heard about him. And that he should have died two decades ago. What had happened to her? She couldn't very well have travelled back in time. That was simply impossible. Most likely she was having some kind of comatose dream.

“The Hero Without Common Sense”, General Kenobi grumbled. Leia had heard that name, too, when Bail had told her stories of the legendary Jedi. But they were dead because the Empire had killed them all.

Behind her, Boba Fett went rigidly still.

“So, erm, may we seek shelter with you until we figured out how we got here?” Leia wondered where her diplomatic skills had gone. Maybe they had gotten lost while she'd travelled through time and space – but this was impossible! It was very hard to think straight while wrapping her head around the thought of talking to dead men. And fighting her headaches.

“I am sure that can be arranged. Please surrender your weapons and take off that helmet”, General Kenobi ordered and if Leia had thought that Fett had been rigid before she now stood corrected. She was sure that his knuckles were shining white through his skin beneath the leather of his gloves.

Leia resisted the urge to punch him with her elbow. It would have only bruised her anyway considering his armour and, most likely, she would have found herself knocked down in a matter of milliseconds. He seemed totally out of it.

“Take off that helmet”, Skywalker repeated the order and his hand reached for his lightsaber.

Actually, Leia didn't care that much if Boba Fett was killed by an overeager Jedi. He was completely capable and ruthless enough to kill her if she got on his nerves. On the other hand she knew that, if he didn't surrender his weapons, she would find herself on the business end of a lightsaber alongside him and that was not the desirable in the least.

So she took a step back and stole the blaster rifle from his clawing hands. His fingers were trembling with barely controlled emotion. She wondered if it was fear or hate. Or both. Leia let the rifle fall to the ground and continued to disarm the most dangerous bounty hunter in the galaxy as though he was helpless and unable to hurt her. Maybe he couldn't at the moment. He seemed so out of it although it was hard to tell with his helmet on. His posture only said that he was ready to fight as soon as one of the Jedi or troopers made one move.

Carefully, she raised her hands to touch the cheeks of his helmet. He flinched back from her touch and she knew that in her back the Jedi readied themselves for battle. She could hear blasters aimed at them by the troopers. Fett didn't move when she searched for the right buttons to unseal his helmet. His hands had formed fists.

Leia had never thought of him having a face. Every holo featured him only in full armour and with helmet. And a warning to never cross his path unless you had the means to pay him. He was the very top of the food chain but beneath that helmet he was just a man with a face full of various scars, toned skin, dark eyes now burning with hatred and a strong jaw made even more prominent by clenching it.

“A deserter”, Kenobi said. “That explains a lot.”


	2. Chapter 1: Not how it was supposed to be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia does not know what to think or say. Boba Fett does not like Jedi and would rather not say anything at all. Obi-Wan Kenobi is still trying to get the hang of being a General of the GAR and does not know what to do with these strange stowaways

### Chapter 1: Not how it was supposed to be

This was not how it was supposed to be, Leia thought. She was in shackles, although she had been reasonable. Plus, she was in a holding cell together with Fett. He was also chained, his jaw still clenched as though he wanted to bite through durasteel and his eyes promised death to the Jedi. Actually, Leia's look was similarly murderous. She had surrendered. She had made Boba Fett surrender – however she had managed that. That's what she'd gotten for it. At least her headaches weren't splitting her brain in half any longer.

“So, what do we do now?”, she asked.  
Fett's eyes scanned their surroundings for cameras. She recognized the look. She had had the same in her eyes when she had been in Imperial captivity. He moved a bit until the camera was unable to record his lips' movements any longer. “Use the pendant. This is the Clone Wars.”

“And how should I do that?”, she hissed and let her hair fall into her face. Maybe Fett was being paranoid but better safe than sorry. “I have no idea how. And besides, this can't be the Clone Wars. That's been twenty years ago.”

Fett just gave her an elongated stare.

“Right”, Leia answered her own question because he didn't seem liable to do it any time soon. “Sith artefact. I guess nothing good ever happens when something like that is involved.” She sighed and then wriggled until her bound hands reached her back where she had hidden the pendant before the troopers had searched her for weapons. With nimble fingers she pulled it out and held it into the light coming from the cell's ceiling lamp. “Damn”, she cursed. One of the eyes was missing. It must have fallen out when she was trying to hide it from trooper hands. There was also a little crack splitting the hole for said eye. That's why it must have fallen out. “I don't know about you but I'd rather not use a broken artefact that seems to make time travel possible.”

Fett nodded in agreement. That was all. It was a bit infuriating that he made her talk all the time while remaining silent.

In a bout of sudden anger – and maybe a bit of frustration – Leia threw the broken pendant against the durasteel wall of the holding cell. It shattered upon impact. “You know what? I don't care. Stay silent as long as you want. We're stuck here but I'm going to get out.”

“You wouldn't survive a month in the war”, he stated plainly.

“Wouldn't I?” In any other situation, Leia would have put her hands to her waist. Now she was forced to only raise her chin and look him directly into the eyes. “I am part of the Alliance and I know my way around a fight.”

His dark stare pierced hers. “There is a reason why the Empire always states proudly to have ended the Clone Wars and everyone is happy about it. It was horrible.”

“I know-”

“You know nothing!”, he interrupted her harshly. “You weren't even born until the end. All you ever got to know was the stability of the Empire and the little war of your Alliance.”

Leia blinked surprised by his sudden outburst. “So, what now? If you know your way around here, get us out.”

Fett nodded shortly. “One condition. We will look for another pendant like this and then you will bring us back.”

“Why?” Leia tried not to sound too aggressively. “I know why I want to return but why do you?”

“None of your business.”

Leia snorted. That was the reply she had been expecting. “Alright, we have a deal.”

The opening cell door interrupted him before he could answer her. General Kenobi was there, lightsaber at his hip and two troopers in his back. “How did you do it? We've been searching everywhere for the breach.” He seemed genuinely unsettled. One of the troopers flinched.

“That's not proper protocol, General”, he said as quietly as he could but Leia heard him regardless.

“I don't care. I have to know.” Leia expected torture. Her father had told her that Jedi were honest and just. But they had already more or less broken their word after she had surrendered so she wasn't too sure of what Bail had told her. Instead General Kenobi just asked again. “How did you do it? We have been in hyperspace since Thule and I can't imagine you boarding there.”

Fett shuddered involuntarily. That the name alone was enough to earn a reaction from this controlled man told Leia more than she wanted to know. Fett caught himself fast enough, though, and directly stared into General Kenobi's eyes. “The ways of the Force are mysterious, Jedi. You should know.” In the short side glance to her, Leia could read something more. _That's why you went extinct._

“You don't have to resort to mockery”, General Kenobi only chided. He seemed to take it in good humour. “You deserted so you might still know some of the protocols and that's how you got here.”

Fett straightened his back as far as he could. “I never deserted. I'm not one of your commandos, Jedi.”

“You look the same except for the scars.” General Kenobi relaxed his posture a bit. “You're another clone of Jango Fett.”

Fett's posture became more rigid. “I'm his son”, he corrected coldly.

“His son is a child.” Leia noticed how General Kenobi still tried to maintain his relaxed posture when underneath it he seemed ready to defend himself. “You're a grown man.”

“I'm his son”, Fett repeated. “Aliit ori'shya tal'din. Family is more than blood.” There was a range of emotions in his eyes that Leia couldn't quite sort through. It seemed that the plain, ruthless bounty hunter hid a lot behind the visor of his helmet. “Call me Jaster.”

Leia kept herself from frowning. His name was Boba Fett but – after further thought – it was quite obvious why he shouldn't use this name here.

General Kenobi raised one eyebrow. “So you tell me that Jango Fett has another son that looks exactly like him and there is no reasonable explanation why you are on board the _Negotiator_. How am I supposed to believe that? How can I be sure that you are not a threat?”

“Can't you use the Force or something?”, Leia snapped. She wanted out of these binders, she wanted to take a shower and General Kenobi was being very noisy and distrusting and although she couldn't blame him for it, it wasn't her life's goal to be on the receiving end of his distrust.

“That's not how the Force works.” General Kenobi just spent a short look on her. Then his eyes wandered back to Boba Fett. “And I can feel a lot of hatred coming from your friend here.”

“Nothing personal, Jedi”, Fett replied through gritted teeth.

“You know that I didn't kill your father?” General Kenobi's brows were furrowed.

“Yes.” Fett didn't say more although his eyes burnt with long nurtured anger.

Leia coughed to reclaim the attention of General Kenobi. “Now that that is out of the way, could we return to the problem at hand?” She folded her hands in front of her – a bit more complicated than she had anticipated with her hands being bound. “What do you plan to do with us, General Kenobi?”

Kenobi stroked his beard and seemed to contemplate her question as though it was Alderaanian philosophy. “The both of you have put me in a difficult situation. As a Jedi I can trust my instincts that at least you” - he nodded in Leia's direction - “don't pose a threat to the Jedi or the Republic. But as a General of the Great Army of the Republic I am obligated to report and eliminate any security breaches. As for you”, he looked at Fett, “I am not sure what to do with a deserter.”

“I was never part of your army, Jedi.” Fett repeated again. “And there are no deserters in the GAR. The only way out is a body bag.”

Leia understood what Fett implicated and considering that Kenobi's face turned pale, so did he. Fett's voice was cold and even, just a fact that he was stating. It made Leia's stomach turn. The Republic wouldn't kill its own soldiers, would it?

She did catch herself fast enough, though, and coughed again. “Could we please talk about the situation now? I don't know about the GAR or whatever you Jedi did to him and, frankly, I don't care. I want to come to some kind of solution, so that I can get out of this cell, out of these binders and in a fresher.”

“Stop talking”, Fett said. “How can I prove that I am not a deserter?”

General Kenobi stopped shortly to think. “A genetic sample would suffice. If you are, who you say you are, your genetic code should not be exactly the same as Jango Fett's.”

“Go to hell.”

“I'm confused”, Leia interrupted. “Can't we just make a deal and you forget about his whole heritage business? Because as far as I can see, you don't want to put up anyone for execution and I need him alive.”

General Kenobi massaged his temples. “That does sound like a good solution for everyone but I can't just let you go. You could be spies of Dooku, after all.”

Leia laughed. “If I was a spy, I'd have terribly messed up. Bringing a Mandalorian along on a stealth mission is...” She shook her head.

“I agree. That would be a rookie mistake.” General Kenobi stroked his beard. Considering how often he moved his hands, Leia started to wonder if he had some kind of nervous habit. As though he couldn't bear to stand still. “The both of you don't make a lot of sense. Why did you hide on the _Negotiator_ to begin with? You must have known that you would be found sooner or later?”

“It was me”, Leia piped up. “I picked up a strange artefact, then everything turned black and then I was in that storage room.”

Kenobi's eyes lightened up. “And where is that artefact now?”

She blushed and looked down onto the shards of black mineral and the single, red gem that was left. “It did not survive an accidental encounter with the wall of this cell.”

That comment made Kenobi smile. “That complicates things but at least it explains the aura of the dark side clinging to you.” He frowned. “Do I know you by any chance? You seem familiar.”

Fast thinking was required and although the headaches from before had gotten better, Leia was still not on her usual level of fast-mindedness. Especially, because she was talking to the legend Obi-Wan Kenobi. “I don't think so. I've lived on a farm the last years.” It was a bad excuse but it would explain why her knowledge wasn't as good as it should be. At least that's what she hoped for.

Fett's eyes lay on her. “She is right in one point. We can strike a deal. If you forget about my heritage, I might remember where Dooku will be in a few days.”

Only Leia knew how literal he meant these words. It had been twenty years, after all. He might not remember at all.

“That would be valuable information if it was true. But how can you know something that the Republic is desperately trying to find out?” Leia didn't need some mystical power like the Force to feel Kenobi's mistrust.

“None of your business.”

“It is his business”, Leia corrected. When Fett glared at her, she did her best to respond in kind. She had stared down Tarkin when he threatened her home. She could do this. “And I think we can keep things far simpler, if we just state the plain truth.”

Fett raised one eyebrow in response. General Kenobi frowned. Leia just wondered – for a very brief moment – if she had made the right call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously have no idea how I feel about this chapter. But seeing that I wrote it while being totally sleep deprived and only awake by the grace of caffeine and feelings of guilt (not concerning the story but convention stuff), I don't know anything. I hope I did not mess up the english language too badly. It's not my mother tongue, so there might have been some mistakes or odd formulations. Feel free to point that out.  
> Also: Leia is impulsive and really just wants to use the fresher. And I couldn't resist to put some quotes in here. Sorry.


	3. Chapter 2: Worth A Try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Striking a deal can be hard and result in interesting side effects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, had some pretty heavy depressing phases the last days/weeks. And there was random smut I wanted to finish (and I haven't).

### Chapter 2: Worth A Try

Saying that Leia was anxious would be the understatement of the year. Instead of fidgeting or showing any sign of nervousness, though, she searched for her calm centre – which had been easier on board the Death Star because at least then she hadn't been bound and in front of one of her childhood heroes. There she had lied right into Tarkin's face and Vader's mask. She could do this.

Leia took a deep breath and pictured General Kenobi as those men. She did it once. This was easy. “I was in deep cover”, she said. “I was supposed to find out how far the separatists were willing to go.” Leia smiled bitterly. She had heard the stories and had learnt about it in history. Still, she had doubts she could really portray someone who had grown up in this era. The quick, worried glances of Boba Fett didn't help her.

“So, why does he and not you offer the location of Dooku?”, General Kenobi asked.

Leia suppressed a curse. “Because I was supposed to get her out before something happened. Instead her cover was blown and we had to run. She picked the pendant up then and that's why we are here. Some kind of Sith magic.”

“You are lying.” General Kenobi stated it in a matter-of-fact-tone. Just now Leia remembered that Jedi were supposed to know when someone wasn't telling the truth. And she had tricked him! She would have to think about how she had done that later.

“Yes, I am”, Fett answered calmly. “But that is what you are going to tell everyone who asks if you want my information.”

For a moment the two men just stared at each other. Then General Kenobi nodded calmly. One of the clones in his back – the one with yellow markings on his armour – stiffened his posture but that was the only sign of his position on Fett's and Leia's attempt to blackmail one of the most legendary figures of the Clone Wars. The other one was less easy to read. Actually, Leia had no idea what he was thinking of them.

“I do have one condition, though”, General Kenobi added. “Until you have proven that you are not spies of Dooku and feeding false information, you will fight by my side.”

Leia's jaw dropped. “But … aren't you fighting at the front? Like, the frontline? I'm not... I don't know how to do that.”

“Then your information better be accurate because then I can plan my strategies so that you won't get hurt.” His tone might have been calm but his eyes were cold. Apparently, General Kenobi did not take kindly to possible traitors and was very protective of his troops. “If my troops die because of false information fed by you, I will make sure that you will stand trial for it.”

“Don't worry, Jedi. My information is accurate.” Fett's eyes were just as cold as General Kenobi's. 

There was a long silence that would have made Leia shift uncomfortably in her makeshift seat on the cell floor while the men continued to stare at each other if she hadn't be through worse in the Imperial Senate already. She coughed impatiently. “It seems we have an accord. So could you please unbind us?” She held her hands up.

“No.” General Kenobi answered visibly sorry. “I'll have to consult with the Council first. This could turn the tide of the war.”

That was it. Leia had enough. She knew how long senate debates could take. She didn't know about the Council but she feared the worst. “I don't care. Not even allowing me to use the fresher is an infringement upon my civil rights. It's torture. And here I thought the Jedi were better.”

Silence.

General Kenobi sighed and massaged his temples. “That is not what I meant.” He rubbed his temples with even more fervour as though that could stop the impending headache Leia wished on him. “Alright, the Council does tend to trust my judgement. “Cody and Rex will watch you. There is a cabin you can use.”

 

“Wait, we have to share?”, Leia asked after she got out of the fresher. Fett was still in her cabin and he had taken off those parts of his armour that hadn't been confiscated along with his weapons. He was lying in a small bunk bed – one of four in the cabin.

Fett groaned audibly. “This is a warship, princess, not a diplomatic cruiser. Get used to it.”

“Could you please not call me that?” She wasn't a princess in this time. She wasn't a princess anyway. Her people had been reduced to atomic dust along with her planet.

He huffed. “What then?”

“I have a name, you know.” She stemmed her hands into her waist. “And you'd better get used to it, _Jaster_ , because we're stuck here together.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that exactly?” He sat upright and now Leia remembered that he was, indeed, a hunter and a feared one at that. His eyes alone would make her freeze in place if she was any less stubborn.

“The stupid Sith's who designed that pendant? I don't know.” Leia tried to keep defiance out of her tone but failed miserably at it. “Who had to antagonize the first people we met?”

“You expect me to be nice to the people who killed my father?”, he shot back immediately. Then there was a flicker of hesitance and surprise in his eyes as though that was more than he would have said usually.

“I expect you to be clever about it. You are intelligent, aren't you? Use your head, _Jaster_.” Leia calmed her tone. No point in angering Fett any further if she had to work with him for who knows how long.

This time his groan showed signs of exasperation. “You don't have to stress the name I gave myself. You are right.”

Leia blinked. “What?”

“You are right. Do you have a hearing defect that never made it into your documents?” He seemed genuinely intrigued. Leia guessed he was like that because he had looked her up as a potential target and was now interested in furthering his data on her.

She shook her head. “No … I'm just not used to people admitting that I am right.”

“Fighting the truth is a waste of time and I don't like to waste my time.” Fett stated matter-of-factly. “You should work on your identity.”

Leia blinked again, this time because of the rapid change of topic. “What about it?”

“As soon as we reach Coruscant, the Jedi will check your identity with SIS. It's protocol and Kenobi is one for protocol”, Fett explained while standing up and falling to the ground – to catch himself at the last moment and start with push-ups.

For a short moment Leia was distracted by the movement of the muscles beneath his dark skin, then caught herself. “So, basically, you want me to tell General Kenobi that I lied to him to get you out of trouble?”

“Yes.”

“Great.” Leia sighed and let herself fall onto the bunk bed opposite of the one Fett had been lying on. For a moment she thought about what to say when asked about her identity. Lying in the senate of the Empire had come easily, building a whole identity from scrap was something else entirely. “How do I do this?”

Fett changed position to do some sit-ups. “Why are there no birth records for you?”, he asked between breaths.

“Oh...” Leia could see how she had to do this. “They have been lost in some kind of economic crash?”, she suggested.

“Name one from this era.”

“Tarkin-Hyperspace”, she answered immediately. Her history lessons were worth something now.

“What was your childhood like? What was our planet like? How did you live through the devastation?” The questions were thrown at her in quick succession as though Fett had expected her answer.

“Touché.” She couldn't play the part of a consular or ambassador in this time. She knew too little of the small facts. “I could have been born to smugglers in the Outer Rim?”

“Make it Wild Space. Somewhere close to the Rishi maze”, Fett corrected. “Try to imitate the dialect if you're able to.”

“Yer afraid me can't play tha part, Fett?”, she tried her best to speak like those smugglers in the holovids she had adored as a teenager.

“On second thought: Don't.” He changed positions again and continued his training routine. Maybe it was something that calmed him? “How do you explain the details from this era that you are missing?”

Leia shrugged her shoulders. “I could have lived illegally in the far end of nowhere. Tatooine or something.” She could inspire her acting by Luke. A smile crept upon her lips. “And I want to help the Republic because my parents' ship had been shot down by trade federation ships.” Fett nodded. Her smile grew broader when that little mischievous part of her brain added another detail. “As to why I care so much about you that I want to keep you out of Republic custody … you are my fiancé.”

Fett stopped in his training, turning around to look at her as though she had lost her mind. “I've been contracted by you to help avenge your parents' death.”

Leia sighed, still smiling. “It was worth a try.” 

 

“Kenobi, have you lost your mind!”, Mace Windu yelled through the holocom just as Anakin entered.

“So, it's decided then. Thank you, Masters.” Master Kenobi bowed and ended the call on Windu's last words.

“Nothing's been – Don't you kriffing dare-!”

Anakin raised one eyebrow and couldn't stop his usual cocky grin from showing. “Master, I thought after all the litanies I had to hear about respecting the Council ...”

“They were being overly cautious, so ...” Master Kenobi sighed. It was his regretful sigh.

“So, what, Master?”, Anakin queried further.

“So I chose to ignore them. Now, if you excuse me, I've got two prisoners to talk to.”

Anakin could hold the laughter until Obi-Wan had left the room. Then he just had to laugh unless he wanted to bust himself a kidney from suppressing it so hard.

Oh dear, this was going to be hilarious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still got that headcanon that Mace Windu tends to swear and curse like there's no tomorrow when stressed.


	4. Chapter 3: The only person with common sense in the room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia and Boba start to get used to being prisoners/guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, next convention is up in a few weeks so you can guess what I do during most of my free time. Spoiler: It's not writing.

### Chapter 3: The only person with common sense in the room

The door to their quarter was opened. Leia had half expected one of the clones or General Kenobi. Instead, it was Skywalker who seemed delighted about something. Leia had the sneaking suspicion that it was about hers and Fett's presence aboard the _Negotiator_.

“Obi-Wan isn't here yet?”, he asked surprised. “Ah, well the Council must have gotten him again.”

“And what did they say?”

Skywalker scratched his head. “I only caught the tail end of the conversation. Was busy and all. So ...erm, actually I have no idea. I think Obi-Wan decided something for himself and shut the Council up because they were being idiots again.”

One of the troopers moved like he had to suppress a bit of laughter.

“Anakin, that is _not_ what I said.” That was General Kenobi who had finally arrived. “And I got held up by Master Yoda.”

“Litany about respecting the Council? I thought only I got those.” Skywalker sounded genuinely surprised.

“About taking a Padawan”, General Kenobi deadpanned. “Now, about you two-”

“No, wait, taking a Padawan?”, Skywalker interrupted.

“What about us?” Leia shot Skywalker a threatening look to shut up. “You're not executing us?”

“Even if you were identified as spies, you would just be imprisoned. Execution is barbaric.” General Kenobi looked quite shocked at the thought alone. Leia still didn't get it. For her it was quite normal that traitors got executed. She couldn't start to imagine a world where it was different although she had been fighting for one. “Anyway, the Council agreed with me to test you and your intelligence reports. Therefore you will fight side by side with me.”

“What Skywalker said didn't sound like agreement”, Leia muttered.

General Kenobi sighed. “They bowed to my superior arguments.”

“You mean your stubbornness”, Skywalker corrected.

“So where will Dooku be?”, General Kenobi continued without paying the interruption any mind.

Leia started to have doubts if these really were the heroes of the Republic. They seemed more like … a bunch of chaotic crazies.

“How many days since Geonosis?”, Fett interrupted her thoughts. “Thirty? Thirty-five?”

“Thirty-three”, Kenobi answered hesitantly.

“In two weeks Dooku will conquer the planet of Christophsis. He will trap your army there and then try to negotiate with the Hutts about the use of their hyperlanes.” Fett leaned back in his position. 

General Kenobi seemed torn between suspicion and surprise. “That is … oddly specific.”

“I possess a good memory.”

Leia looked from General Kenobi to Fett and back. Fett wanted Kenobi to challenge him. He wanted to be doubted and most likely wanted to use his fists on the Jedi. It took a lot of effort not to sigh. Why, sweet ancestors, couldn't she have time travelled alone or with someone from her reconnaissance team? Why did it have to be this bounty hunter? She would have even preferred this rugged scoundrel Solo over Boba Fett for company. “Boys, behave”, she murmured more to herself than to anyone else.

Fett and General Kenobi looked simultaneously to her. So they did hear her. That was good because now she wouldn't have to break up a brawl – somehow she was sure that Skywalker would rather join a brawl than break it up – and it was bad because she now found herself in the centre of five very scrutinizing glares.

Leia held up her hands in an innocent gesture recognized on every civilized planet. “Or continue. What would I know? I just seem to be the only person with common sense in this room but don't mind me.” General Kenobi had the decency to look ashamed. Fett just glared at her. “I hired you to help me avenge my parents' death but if you keep picking fights with the Jedi you can forget about your credits.” She would never admit it but she was quite proud of how she had started to establish her life's lie.

Fett grumbled something unintelligible.

“Anakin, please tell the crew to plot a course to Christophsis. I'd really like to see Dooku's face when we surprise him there.” He stroked his beard. “The main part of the fleet is to stay behind, close, but hidden. I don't want him to trap us all on the planet. Cody, Rex, escort our guests to the armoury. They will need weapons and armour that doesn't distinguish them from us.” Both clones nodded. “Whereas I will tell the Council to keep an eye on the Hutts, especially Jabba.”

 

“Master, I think that Jaster may be the real deal, you know?”, Anakin said after leaving the prisoners to Rex and Cody.

“A son of Jango Fett?”, Obi-Wan queried with raised eyebrow.

“No, the whole information deal. It would make sense for Dooku to take the hyperlanes of the Hutts. He's blocking ours and if he also gets his greasy, old -”

“Language, Anakin.”

“If he gets his hands on those, he could finish the war within the next week.”

“I know and that's what made me defy the Council this time.” Obi-Wan crossed his arms in front of this chest. “Please don't remind me that I shouldn't do it. There's something in the Force about those two. They are important and I don't want them to die of boredom in a Council meeting.”

“So you do admit that those are boring as hell”, Anakin exclaimed triumphantly.

Obi-Wan sighed. “Yes, I do but please don't quote me on it, my former Padawan. Anyway, when did you become a prodigy in strategical analysis?”

Now Anakin laughed. “Oh, you know, I used to live on Tatooine my whole childhood. And I am pretty good in slicing stuff. So … I might have seen some of those hyperlanes and if Dooku gets those under control he could be deep in the Core in one jump.”

Obi-Wan raised both eyebrows in surprise. “There's not a chance you remember the coordinates for those lanes?”

“Hey, I was six, Master.”

“I'm not your Master anymore, Anakin.”

Anakin grinned sheepishly. “Right. I keep forgetting that. It's just... shouldn't there have been a proper ceremony or something?”

For a while Obi-Wan only answered with a silent “Hmm”. He closed his eyes and stroked his beard like he always did when he was about to say something uncomfortable. “You passed your trials and you did good, Anakin. Thule was hard for all of us but you did what was right by the Code. The Council acknowledged that. Just... we're in the middle of a war. There's no time for ceremonies.”

There was another longer silence until they reached the com-centre.

“Did you get a ceremony?”, Anakin asked.

Surprised, Obi-Wan looked up into his former Padawan's face. That was a sensible question and highly unusual for Anakin. “No, I didn't.”

He turned around to enter the com-room.

"Hey, wait, what was that about a new Padawan?", Anakin yelled after him but Obi-Wan shut the door with a mysterious smile. It would do Anakin some good to wait for this answer.

 

Leia looked around the armoury. All the armours were white like stormtrooper armour. There were small differences, though. The material was thicker and harder. It sounded different than plastoid. This was real armour, not the things the Emperor used for his soldiers. She could also see that all these armours were too big for her – and they had been used before. There were stains from blood, dust and dirt all over the white material, scorch marks from blasters and she could swear that one had been hit by a grenade of sorts.

“Whom did they belong to?”, she asked the clone with the yellow markings – Cody, if she recalled correctly.

“Fallen brothers”, Fett answered in his stead. “They were on Thule before. I wasn't there but I heard of it. They sustained heavy losses. These are the armours that can still be used for new troops from Kamino.” He knocked on one chest plate as if to test the material. “I prefer my own.”

“What he said”, Cody confirmed. “So you better not be a traitor because I will end you if you dishonour their armours.”

“Their ID-chips are missing”, Fett observed calmly. “And don't worry, I've got a lot of reasons to hate Dooku.”

“Jango Fett worked for him”, the other trooper – Rex – stated.

“I know.” Fett – Boba Fett, now this was starting to confuse her – didn't look at the clones. “He didn't know it was Dooku until Geonosis or he would never taken that contract. I will honour my father by not aligning myself with the man who killed his people – the True Mandalorians.”

Leia kept her mouth shut in surprise. First of all, she hadn't thought that Boba Fett could talk that much without pause. Secondly, this was more than interesting. She had been taught that Dooku had been an honourable Jedi until he was corrupted. There had never been any talk about a slaughter of Mandalorians.

“We will see”, Cody relented.

“Why are their chips missing?”, Leia asked after a small pause during which Fett was walking through the armoury and searching for a set that he liked.

“Some of our training sergeants were Mandalorian. It's a tradition there to keep the armour of those passed away. The body isn't worth anything. It's not directly applicable here so the training sergeants get the ID-chips.” Rex seemed rather inclined to explain the workings to her.

“I guess that makes sense.” She looked around. “Do you have any armour that would fit me?” After all, she was far too small to fit in trooper armour.

Rex nodded slowly. “There is one, I guess. We had one unorthodox straggler Jedi with us on Thule. She died but her armour is still here.”

“But I'm no Jedi”, she protested weakly.

“Take it”, Fett interrupted her, a stack of armour parts on his arms. “It's a durasteel alloy partially covered with Cortosis. It will deflect a lightsaber if you know what you do.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You wanted armour, you better take it.”

Leia tried not to feel intimidated. Yes, she wanted armour because someone had decided to put her on the frontlines. “But I've never worn armour before.” She was a consular after all. Target practice in the shooting range didn't really require armour and especially not a heavy one. Hand to hand combat training neither and that had been few lessons in between to teach her rudimentary self-defense, not put her in the middle of a war.

“Then you better learn how to move in it. That's your life now.”

Leia bit back a retort. Fett was right. She had picked up that pendant and now she was stuck here. She'd better get used to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm starting to love Cody. And, well, I'm twisting Canon a little bit. Just fine tweaking concerning Jango on Kamino and fitting together how he could work for the man he hated.


	5. Chapter 4: The worst week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of experimental time skipping with lots of Leia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, maybe all of you noticed so far but I'm a bit of an idiot. The moment I saw that one tumblr-post that started this fic I've been playing with the idea to integrate it into the context of the Paradoxaverse. I mean, that's basically time travel through the ages, so it would fit perfectly there. Then I didn't because I wanted to write something different that doesn't belong there. Now I've stopped pretending that I don't like the thought of all those little scnes I can write then (and the fun I'm going to have). It would probably work without and I'm afraid to lose some readers to this (because it's going to be frigging long now) but then... essentially I write fanfiction for my own fun and share it because people seem to think my writing is alright.  
> What I'm trying to say is, essentially, you can still read it as a stand-alone. I want to make it work that way. But there will be headcanons from the Paradoxaverse that I will put in here and maybe some connections will be made to some of the other stories in the series. So bear with me. It's all going to be an experiment from here on.

### Chapter 4: The worst week

Leia had the distinct feeling that this week in hyperspace until they reached Christophsis was going to be one of the most exhausting in her life. She had to get used to the armour – Fett thought this meant that she wore it without a break – and avoid Kenobi while she was at it. Kenobi had been trying to talk to her in private – most likely about her lying to him – and she was not ready to face him yet because she couldn't think of a good explanation.  
Of course, Leia could ask Fett about it. He would most definitely have at least an idea how she had been able to lie to General Kenobi. On the other hand, she didn't want to appear even more helpless than she already did and didn't want to rely solely in him for everything. She was raised as a princess of Alderaan after all. She could take care of herself.

 

**Day 1: A catastrophe in the making**

 

Leia tried to keep up with Fett's pace. He was faster in that armour than he had any right to be. Leia on the other side had to fight the weight alone. How could anyone fight in this? She wasn't even sure if she would be able to hold a blaster rifle a whole battle, let alone show the skill a Jedi would. Rex had said this one had belonged to a Jedi but Leia found that hard to believe. How did she swing a lightsaber in this?

“You know, I wonder who she was.”

Fett didn't even turn his head. Most likely, he was able to see her due to the technical enhancements in the helmet. “Another dead Jedi.”

Leia resisted the urge to kick him in the shin. That wouldn't be very helpful and anyway, she would only hit his armour plates. “And how, in the nine hells of Corellia, did she fight in this thing?”

“Training”, he replied drily.

Leia huffed. “Great. And I'm supposed to do this in a week until we reach Christophsis.”

“You won't be swinging a lightsaber.”

“Now that's a relief because I won't be able to run far with these weights on my legs.” She gestured downwards to the plates covering her thighs and shins. At least she had been able to keep her comfortable boots.

“You'll get used to it.”

Leia doubted it.

-

She groaned audibly as soon as she was alone. Fett was a sadist. He had made her run and run and run further until she couldn't breathe. Then she had to live through more exercise. Damn, she was a consular not a warrior and she noticed it dearly.

The only good thing was that she really didn't notice the weight as much any longer – because she was kriffing exhausted and her limbs were as heavy as dubrillian gold. She could barely move at all and still had to get to her quarters – where she would meet Fett again.

Smothering him in his sleep seemed like a good idea if only he couldn't torment her then any longer. If only she was able to move and press that pillow on his mouth.

She gave the idea up as she remembered that he was likely to fight back and that he was her only ally here. He knew where she came from. For the Jedi and the clones she could just as well be another straggler Jedi they would lose in the next battle.

 

**Day 2: A catastrophe averted**

 

“You've been avoiding me”, General Kenobi caught up to her while Leia was making her way to the mess hall. Fett had allowed her two hours rest in the middle of the day so she fully intended to get something to eat before he would torment her further in obstacle courses.

“Yes”, she admitted. There was no point in lying and the sooner she got this debate done the sooner she could eat and rest.

“You lied to me.” General Kenobi now walked next to her, his long robe swishing behind him. “In the cell about who you are.”

Leia cursed internally with some of the swears she had picked up in holodramas. “I don't know what you are talking about.”

“You lied right into my face”, General Kenobi continued. “About being part of the SIS. You weren't even careful with lying and everything you said contradicted each other.” Leia cringed. He was right. Outright lying had never been her strongest suit. Omitting parts of the truth, avoiding the question, such things were her techniques. “I didn't even notice it because I couldn't feel you lying. How could I not feel you lying?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know.” She might have an inkling of an idea but she wouldn't tell him that. He was so different from the hero her father had told her about that she wasn't sure if she should really trust him. “Maybe there's something wrong with your feelings?”

“Now I can tell that you are lying.”

Leia bit on her lower lip. She could still ask Fett about it. Maybe it was better to put her trust into Kenobi, though. “I really don't know. I was just trying to be calm and reasonable.”

He stroked his beard in contemplation. “That might have been it.” His eyes fixated her. “I don't know who you are and where you really come from. I just hope that your little secret is worth the lives you are risking.”

Leia laughed full of dark humour. “Because I will die if your troops fall?” Death threats started to sound less threatening the more often she got to hear them.

“Cody might be inclined to kill you, yes.”

“He's a clone. Shouldn't he be following your orders?” Leia was confused. That was what she had learned. Sometimes her father had told her different stories but she had thought of them as deviants.

“You should never speak like that again. They may not look like it in their armours but they are people not droids.” Nevertheless, his posture visibly relaxed. It seemed that the great warrior she had heard so much about, wasn't particularly fond of violence.

 

**Day 3: A catastrophe waiting to happen**

 

“Oh, you are training?”, Skywalker chimed in as soon as he entered the near empty hangar bay where Leia was tormented by Fett again. “Can I join in?”

“No”, Fett immediately replied and although Leia was inclined to agree with him, she couldn't. It wouldn't do good to always follow his lead. Besides, Fett's training drills for hand to hand combat in full armour was beginning to hurt her arms where she had to block his attacks all the time.

“Yes”, she answered instead.

Skywalker grinned broadly. “Wicked. Haven't had a chance to fight a Mandalorian in a while. I mean, a real Mandalorian not just a trained clone.”

Fett huffed quietly enough that only Leia heard him. “Keep that tone and I will be your last, Jedi.”

Carefully, Leia took a step back. In the last days she had been able to watch the tension build and neither Skywalker nor Fett were making any effort to smooth things over. This was a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Leia hadn't expected that Fett took two steps backwards to now stand behind her instead. “I don't need to train with a Jedi. You wanted to.”

“Wait -” Leia wanted to say more but stopped. She had brought Skywalker into this and it wasn't his fault that Fett didn't play along. Now it fell to her to train with Skywalker. Hopefully, he would keep in mind that she wasn't combat-trained and wouldn't decapitate her by accident.

-

This had been one of her worst ideas ever. She was hurting all over although Skywalker had only used a training saber while attacking her. Only then had she realized that Fett had actually shown restraint. Skywalker didn't know the concept. At all.

An hour after she had finished the training session, she finally arrived in her quarters. She could barely walk but had been too proud to let anyone see it so she had waited until everyone was in the mess hall and the corridors were empty.

Exhausted and relieved to finally be back in her quarters, she let herself fall onto the bunk bed and swore not to move until the next morning.

“You should take off the armour.” Leia blinked surprised upwards where Fett moved into her field of vision. “You won't be able to move tomorrow if you don't.”

Leia suppressed a yawn. Now, that she was lying on her bed, she noticed how tired she was. Getting up again and removing the plates seemed like a terrible ordeal. “I thought I should wear it all the time to get used to it.”

“You did. But if you sleep like this in your state you will cramp.”

That did sound reasonably enough to get Leia to move again although she had to fight not to groan. Whatever Skywalker had thought – probably nothing – while hitting her again and again for training, she might want to repay that favour as soon as she was fit again.

Carefully, she took off her bracers and shoulder plates. She would be damned if the skin wouldn't be blue tomorrow. The bracers were great to absorb hits and parry a saber but Leia wasn't used to it so it had started to hurt after a while. “Since when do you care, anyway?”, she suddenly realized.

Fett didn't answer. Of course, he didn't. Instead he searched for something in his GAR-issued backpack while Leia took care of her chestguard. He had been right. It was a great feeling to get the armour off of her. Now only the thighs and shins were left.

“Here, use this on the worst parts.” He threw a small box at her. Leia, too stunned to catch it, only evaded in the last second so it dropped on her bed instead. “And take a shower before.”

Curious, she picked to box up. “Bacta salve? I thought every clone only gets a small amount of this?”

“Yes. No.”

Leia sighed. “Does it really hurt to talk in full sentences?” He certainly made it seem like it.

“No. I just don't like to talk.” He settled back on his bunk bed. “Yes, it is bacta salve. A very diluted version but it will make you able to fight in two days. No, not every clone gets a small amount. Most get none, especially the infantry. If you want to be treated better, you have to have been bred as an ARC or RC. They've been more expensive, so the Republic takes better care of them.” His voice was bitter. “Take a shower.”

She didn't ask further. Leia didn't know why he cared so much for the clones. To her, the reports had always sounded as though he had never really been a part of them. He also didn't seem idealist in any way to care about the mistreatment of other people. He worked for the Hutts, he couldn't care, could he?

 

**Day 4: The calm before the catastrophe**

 

Leia could feel something in the air aboard the _Negotiator_ , some kind of tension, the calm before a tempest would break loose. She couldn't describe it better. They were scheduled to arrive on Christophsis some time during their next night cycle and everyone was on edge but tried to be calm. Clones were marching through the corridors, controlling every weapon and alarm system. General Kenobi and Skywalker were fighting in an empty spot in the hangar bay where a starfighter should stand. They've been at it for an hour and the clones were waging bets how much longer they could go on.

Fett was checking the calibrations of his HUD and every spot of his clone armour. All the while he was calibrating a standard blaster rifle. DC-15. He had mumbled something about the DC-17 being more to his taste but the 15 having to make do for the time.

Leia also had been handed a DC-15 and was cleaning it while the Generals fought each other. Their lightsabers made for excellent background noise. She could have done without their bantering. It was distracting.

Suddenly, there was a stifled cry breaking the fighting noise. Leia needed a moment to understand that it came from General Kenobi who now fell to his knees and held his one thigh as though he had been hit.

“What happened there?”, she asked Fett who still calmly calibrated his rifle.

“He's been hurt on Geonosis by Dooku. It's been a month but a lightsaber through the thigh muscles isn't easily healed.”

Leia blinked. “So you're telling me that the man I'm trusting with my life at the moment is kriffing hurt and unable to fight properly?” She couldn't keep herself from swearing.

“Jedi have powerful healing techniques. He won't be in pain any longer in an hour.” Fett laid the rifle to his side and looked at her. “And you'd better trust your life to someone who's not gonna kill you for the greater good.”

Leia snorted. “Like you?”

Now it was Fett's turn to laugh. It was a silent laugh only visible by the short quirk in his lips. “No, but I still need you, he doesn't. So stay where I can see you.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I can do that.” Her hands twisted her hair. “But I still don't understand how you can stay so calm when General Kenobi is wounded like that.”

“The first time round he knew a technique that made him able to fight despite heavy wounds. I'm sure he's learnt it already.”


	6. Chapter 5: Free Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been working hard for convention stuff the last weeks. If you're interested, look up knitting-knights on tumblr or facebook. And afterwards I got sick but I kind of promised a new chapter at the end of July so now you have it. It's a bit shorter than I'd like it to be but I couldn't find a better ending.

### Chapter 5: Free Falling

The deep-space sensors blared their alarm signals right before they exited hyperspace as close to Christophsis as they could dare to. Leia didn't have any more time to be worried – about herself, the health state of General Kenobi, the madness that was Skywalker or the enigma of Boba Fett. Her first instinct was to get a safety pod readied. Then she would negotiate her way out of this.

It took her a moment to realize that this was a major star destroyer – albeit smaller than the ones the Empire used in her day – and she was not a consular. Leia wondered when she would come to terms with this so her first reaction wouldn't be that of a consular but of a warrior.

"Stay close to me", Fett said quietly to her. "This is going to be rough."

Leia nodded in agreement and wondered – not for the first time – why Fett took care of her.

"Anakin, to the ships!", General Kenobi commanded. "You coordinate the pilots. Take care of the enemy fighters as soon as we leave hyperspace." Skywalker saluted and took off with a grin. "Cody, get Admiral Yularen on the comm. I want his destroyers here now. And you", he pointed towards Fett, "explain now why you didn't warn me about this."

Leia could only imagine the expression in Fett's eyes behind the visor of his helmet. "I never said that there wouldn't be defenses. Can't you think for yourself, Jedi?" Fett stepped closer to the viewport when the swirling blue of hyperspace gave way to real-space and barrages of turbolaser fire headed into their direction. "Is that the _Invincible_ as the centerpiece of the blockade? I guess Admiral Trench beat us to Christophsis."

"Trench?", a voice interrupted from the comm-port. Yularen. Leia remembered him looking older and wearing a white uniform. "I recall fighting him a while back. He's good but we can beat him."

Kenobi bowed. "I will heed your wisdom in this matter. Please guide us."

"We could just use the planetary defenses against Trench's fleet. Even the _Invincible_ will be destroyed when fired upon by an ion cannon", Yularen suggested. "The problem will be to take control of the defenses behind the planetary shield but a small strike team should be able to slip through. Until then, I can make the fleet hold out against Trench."

"Is his defense really that strong?", Leia interjected. To her untrained eye it didn't look like a particularly good blockade. There were far stretches not defended by major ships.

"It may not look like it because it's invisible to the naked eye. Trench sets up traps in those unprotected places that break up any formation to break up his blockade. We could win this battle with our fleet but our losses would be cut by a great amount if we can take the planetary defenses."

"Then that's what we'll do. Yularen, I leave the space battle to you and Anakin. I will be down on the planet and get those defenses under control." Leia wanted to laugh. He said it as though it was easy. "Cody, Jaster, Leia, you come with me."

Leia paled. What? "You want me to – what? How do you even want to breach the planetary shield?" She had seen in the space above Scarif how much a planetary shield could absorb.

"Don't worry. I have a plan for that."

Of course, Leia now started to worry in earnest.

 

"What are you doing?", Leia screamed. She did her best to keep the panic out of her voice but failed miserably. This General Kenobi was flying worse than that nerfherding smuggler Solo. She hadn't thought it possible. "Are you trying to get us shot?"

"That is exactly what I'm doing", Kenobi replied through gritted teeth. He made the transporter take a turn that was sharp enough to send Leia sprawling into Cody who also hadn't been strapped in.

"What do you mean, getting shot on purpose?"

"If we are perceived as debris we can pass through the planetary shield."

Perceived as debris? Just how much did Kenobi value their lives? "Is there no other way?"

"Of course." Kenobi had the audacity to smile as though she had made a great joke. "But that would mean an approach at lightspeed and I'd rather not risk it. That's something for Anakin to do."

"You are crazy", she muttered before controlling herself. That wasn't something to say towards the greates general in the army of the Republic.

"If I can end this fight with less bloodshed, then I will risk my life for it", Kenobi answered while grimly maneuvering the transporter. "If this means that I am crazy, then so be it."

That was the moment they were hit. A missile, Leia fought. The whole ship was shaking, she could smell electric circuits burning. Her mind turned to the old prayers her mother had taught her, forbidden prayers to the Force. _I am one with the Force and the Force is with me._

Leia closed her eyes and hoped. Usually, her mother would do the second part of the prayer but she was dead. No partner to say the second line. Leia clenched her hands into fists. _The Force is with me and I am one with the Force._

Another impact.

"If there are any gods you believe in", Kenobi started, "now would be the time to pray." He let the transporter spiral right into the planetary shield. Leia could see the blue-tinted planet close in, closer, closer and swirling in front of her eyes. "Because I'm not sure if this will work."

"What?!", Leia exclaimed.

"Anakin", Kenobi spoke calmly into the comm channel instead of answering Leia. "It's your turn."

"Roger that. Guys, you heard him. Give me a bombing run on desginated area Omikron-three."

"I love it when you say that, General."

There was a low huff from Fett. "A Kenobi plan. I should have known."

"Kenobi plan?", Cody echoed with a hint of amusement. How could they joke while they were falling towards a planetary shield without any possibility to stop because their engines had been shot? "I've got to remember that one."

She could see the flashes of light where the bombing run hit the shield. Then there was only blue while they passed through the shield. She bit her lip in anticipation of being disintegrated. This crazy plan couldn't possibly work, right?

Nothing happened. They passed unharmed. Leia was speechless. Her confusion must have been apparent because Cody turned towards her and clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I don't get it either. The General somehow manages the impossible."

"It's only possible because their planetary shield is built to span the whole planet but doesn't have a specific gate", Fett added. "So the bombing run was a diversion to fortify the shield in one place and therefore weaken it everywhere else, so we – the perceived debris – could pass through without trouble."

"You could have warned me." Leia crossed her arms in front of her chest. The metallic clang of her wrist protection on the chestplate instantly reminded her of the current situation. "And you could start to land this thing."

"The ack-acks will hit us if we do that", Cody interjected.

"Ack-acks?" Why did military need so much jargon?

"Anti-air", Fett supplied. "As soon as they notice intelligent movement from the debris, they will start firing. That's the default programming. Let's hope they haven't changed something."

"So, let me translate that into normal people language. We're going to be free falling until we crash and hope that we survive that crash?" Even the Force wouldn't be able to save them after such a fall. Leia tried not to look at their current height. It wouldn't be high enough anyway.

"Something like that", Kenobi admitted.

Leia kept herself from arguing just so. She didn't even repeat his words in a higher octave. Instead she strapped herself in.

"You two better do the same", Kenobi said to Fett and Cody. "I know how to land us safely. Theoretically."

"You better live up to your reputation, Jedi", Fett growled but followed Kenobi's orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, I didn't mess up too much of the military stuff? Also, I wanted to show where Anakin's reckless behaviour sometimes comes from. I mean, he's reckless on his own but let's remember Obi-Wan's childhood in Jedi-Apprentice. Attacking a fully grown Hutt? nearly blowing himself into the stratosphere? And that's just the first book of 21^^


	7. Chapter 6: Free Falling

### Chapter 6: Free Falling

In the end, Leia wasn't sure how they made it beneath the critical height. She remembered falling, faster and faster, the screeching of air that started to burn the hull of the transporter. _So this is how I die_ , she thought. The ground came closer, ever closer and she could make out buildings and what in the nine hells of Corellia was Kenobi thinking?

Then, stuttering, an engine came back to live.

"I thought our engines had been shot?", Leia asked, just to take her mind off of the horrible situation she was in.

"Just one", Kenobi answered. He was probably frowning. "I shut down the other one myself so we wouldn't be detected."

"Watch out!" Leia gripped tight – Fett's hand she realized in the next moment – and shouted with her whole lung capacity. Didn't Kenobi see that he was about to crash into a tower?

"Stay quiet!", Kenobi barked and then proceeded more calmly: "This is not easy, so please do not disturb my concentration."

Leia forced herself not to respond. As much as she wanted to object, her life now lay in his hands and abilities as a pilot. If he said to stay quiet she should do so. At least, they hadn't crashed into that tower. Now, on the other hand, they were even closer to the ground and Leia was sure that only a miracle prevented them from dying an untimely death. No pilot was this good, not even with the Force.

She tried not to think about their velocity that was still far too high to even attempt landing.

"Alright, we'll have to modify the plan. Jump." Kenobi turned around. "I can't land it in the city without crashing it and us to the subatomic level.

"What?" Leia yelled in a knee-jerk kind of reaction.

"No time." Fett got up with incredible speed. "Get up. Now. Cling to me."

Leia stopped thinking. She just followed Fett's orders, took his hand and moved towards the opening ramp. _If I'm going to die, I might as well do it like a princess. Calm._

Beneath, the city was moving at a far too high speed. Leia could only make out enough to know that jumping would hurt. If only Fett had been allowed to keep his jetpack... they might have made it. Now their chances were considerably lower. Close to zero. Very close.

"You two, go for the planetary shield generator. Cody and I will take the ion cannon. We'll see each other again afterwards."

Before Leia could answer, let alone form words of protests, he grabbed the clone, pushed him out of the transporter and jumped along with him. She couldn't see Fett's face but his grip was firm and tight around her waist.

"Hold on", he said, barely audible in the screeching air.

Then he jumped, too.

Leia started to scream. Why was everyone around her crazy?

 

While falling, Fett shoved her against his chest and without thinking she curled up around him. Then, she started to think. They had to slow their fall, even if they were just fragments of a second longer in the air, their chances of survival increased. Leia spread her arms and only clung with her legs to Fett. Her robes were fluttering a bit in the air. Everything was slowing down.

They were about to hit the ground any moment when Fett moved in the air, turned them around and started spinning or something like that. At least it felt like that.

Landing pressed the air from her lungs. Luckily for her, Fett absorbed most of the impact. He'd curled up around her and they were rolling over the ground in an attempt to not break every bone in their body. Then they hit a wall.

It still hurt, Leia thought, but that was nothing against the pain Fett had to be in. He absorbed the majority of the impact, after all. As fast as she could, Leia untangled herself from him and tried not to hurt him any further.

Fett groaned and, staggering, came back on his feet. “I should have practised more. Should have listened to father.” He held himself up by bracing the wall he had hit before. Still, he was swaying a bit. 

Leia knew the signs. Concussion? Most likely, but hopefully she erred. She really didn't want to be stranded behind enemy lines with nothing but a blaster and a concussed bounty hunter. “How many fingers am I holding up?”, she asked.

"That's stupid." He took off his helmet and breathed in deeply. "I've got a slight concussion and probably a few fractured bones. Nothing broken. Search my backpack. There's medical supplies in there. Bandages, bacta and painkillers.”

“Are you crazy?” Leia crossed her arms, ignoring the pain. Seems, like she had been hurt more than she had first thought. “You're hurt and I have no idea what to do in this kind of situation and you want to try and complete the mission?” She still took the helmet he offered her. “Since when did the Republic become so important to you?”

"I've been hurt worse, princess. Come along or stay here, I don't care. As long as I get off this planet." He didn't sound pleased with the fact that he was stranded on Christophsis.

Leia huffed, not convinced of his answer. “And here I thought you needed me. Don't tell me you decided now to stay in the Clone Wars.”

Fett looked at her with exasperation in his eyes, while simultaneously trying to get to his backpack. “I don't need you but it should be easier if you use the artefact.” He shrugged his shoulders and cursed immediately afterwards in a tongue Leia didn't recognize. "In a pinch, any Force user will do as long as I do not have to live through this time again. They were bad enough the first time."

“They?” Leia stepped closer to take the backpack off his back. The painkillers should be somewhere accessible.

"Don't ask." He shook his head. "Damn concussion."

There they were. Triumphantly she dangled the pill bottle in front of his face. “What can you give me to stop asking? What's it worth to you?” She knew that she was playing with fire. Maybe it was the adrenaline talking. After surviving that fall, it was very likely.

“I just saved your life”, he muttered and – faster than Leia could react – he grabbed the bottle. “Show some gratitude and find the bandages.” Fett swallowed the pills dry.

“Alright, you've got a point”, Leia admitted. “On the other hand I really like this talkative you.”

“If we make it out of this alive, I will answer some of your questions.” He started to take off his armour so he could bandage the fractured parts. One arm was hanging a little more than the other when he let them fall at his side. He was also carefully breathing. “So don't bother me while we're on a mission.”

Leia still tried to negotiate although his tone made clear that he wouldn't talk any further. "But then you're just going to censor your words again."

In a moment's notice he turned around, wounded soldier all turned back into a dangerous bounty hunter, and pressed her against the nearest wall, one hand at her throat. "I told you not to push me", he growled. "This whole time travel thing is far bigger than just our little trip and knowing too much is dangerous, so shut up."

Leia raised her chin, a silent challenge, steel in her eyes. “So what? It's alright for you to know everything and I just have to tag along and hope that I don't make a mistake?” Of course, she was afraid that he would maybe hurt her. He had just admitted to not needing her. But Leia would never give in when threatened. At least, he was an obvious hunter, not one of those silent, sneaking predators in the senate. He honoured strength. That much she had learned about him in the last days.

He loosened his grip and let his hand fall back to his side. “Something like that. Just wait a bit until I figured out what I can tell you.”

“You don't trust me”, Leia stated.

“Yes.” His eyes were just as steely as Leia's when she opposed him. “You are impulsive. Suppose I told you who Vader was before he became Vader, what would you do?”

She didn't have to answer. Of course, she would try to eliminate him. Along with Tarkin, Krennic and everyone else who had been complicit in the destruction of her homeworld. She knew that murder was wrong, had learned it and had always believed it but if she could save Alderaan from certain destruction at the hands of a maniac? It wasn't a hard decision to make.

“That's what I thought. Father told me that there are certain things that can't be changed unless we want to throw ourselves headfirst into some void after breaking the laws of time.” Fett frowned. “Something like that, at least.”

Leia raised one eyebrow and tried to convey all her scepticism non-verbally.

“How do you think I know about time travel? My father did it as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! We're starting to get closer to the whole Paradoxaverse-business. Anyway, I hope the concussion has a lasting talkative effect on Boba because it's much easier to write a conversation when both parties are actually talking.


	8. Chapter 7: A question of pride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter than I'd liked but it was the perfect time for a cut.  
> You've got this update courtesy of two very nice people who made a little photo-edit for this and another who managed to find (or make) a very nice meme about the first meeting of our heroes.

### Chapter 7: A question of pride

Leia stared dumb-foundedly at Fett. Had she heard right? Had he really just said that? “Wait, your father has travelled through time? I … what?”

For a while, Fett didn't answer and just stabilised his fractures in silence. It wasn't great but it would have to do. Stranded, behind enemy lines – behind an enemy planetary shield generator with no support incoming until they blew that thing sky high – they had no other choice. Leia used that time to sort through the chaos in her mind.

“So, Jango Fett travelled through time and you say that we should not change anything because that would break the universe on a galactic level?”

“No.” He put the bandages aside and started to pack his backpack again.

“No? But you just said-”

“I said my father is a time traveller. I've got two but they never made it quite public that they were married.” Fett sighed. “Never understood how they managed to keep it a semi-secret because they were very obvious.”

Leia blinked in surprise. “What?”

“It's a long story.” Fett made a move to stand up, then halted in his movements and cursed.

“What is it now?”, Leia asked.

“They made sure that I memorized every little detail about the Clone Wars. They knew.” He sounded angry. “They knew and never told me.” One fist hit the wall. 

“Who knew what and, anyway, shouldn't we be exploding a planetary shield generator?”

He stood up wholly. Reaching for the armour plates to put them on again, he nodded. “Yes, we should.”

“Hey, what about the other part of my question?” Leia rose to her full height – which would have been more intimidating if Fett hadn't been so tall. “You can't just punch the wall and then tell me nothing.”

“I will not discuss my family situation with a person I don't trust”, he replied sharply.

Leia tried not to become angry about his obnoxiousness. “I'm supposed to trust you based on nothing, did I get that right? Well, I know that a bounty hunter like you has no idea about diplomatic relationships or relationships in general but trust doesn't work that way. Trust goes both ways, ever heard that before?” Leia bit her lower lip. Before she had been able to stop herself, she had started ranting towards Fett.

“I did”, he answered. “Now come, we have a job to do.”

Leia was about to protest again when she reminded herself that with being deep in enemy territory, now probably wasn't the right time for it. “Alright”, she muttered and promised herself to nag him about all those nebulous answers later. “At least let me take your backpack. I'm not wounded as bad as you are.”

Wordlessly, he handed it over to her and took the helmet instead. Wordlessly, Leia followed him as he started to walk towards … somewhere. In her mind, she was replaying the last part of their conversation. Something was bugging her and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

“Wait a moment...” Leia stopped dead in Fett's back. “You said they never told you. They. They are still alive now? But I thought Jango Fett died. You said that he died.”

Fett turned around abruptly. “One more word and I will kill you. Jango Fett is dead.”

 

Leia hadn't dared to speak another word afterwards. His reaction alone had been enough to confirm her theory. Jango Fett was alive. She didn't know how or why he stayed hidden – he was a famous bounty hunter and feared throughout the galaxy, so why stay hidden? – but she did know that this knowledge was dangerous. Fett who usually only killed for money or defence was willing to eliminate her for it. This knowledge was also power. It was the first weapon in this time that she could use. Knowledge and information were tools she was comfortable with.

Fett was still walking ahead as though he knew where they had to got. Maybe he did. Nothing about him would surprise her anymore.

“I might have overreacted a bit”, Fett broke the silence.

Leia huffed. “A bit? Saying you'd kill me is a bit of an overreaction?”

“We're living in dangerous times and the wrong word to the wrong people might kill more than just one person.”

“Is that an apology?” Leia raised one eyebrow. “Because you're not doing a very good job at it.”

“It's an explanation. That's how it is, if you like it or not.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We can look for my parents after this is over. They might know more.”

“So, I was right. You admit it.” She tried to keep the triumph out of her voice. “Anyway, do you know where we have to go?” After following him for a while, she was beginning to doubt that. She was also sure that it was only pride that made him walk without bracing the walls for support.

“Yes.”

Leia suppressed a sigh. Was it really that hard to give her a complete, not one-syllable answer? “You've got a concussion. You should tell me as well, so I can check your directions.”

“I'm not disabled. I can lead the way.” He put a lot more strength in the words than necessary.

“Now you're being stupid.” It seemed like plain words were in order. “I might not be the most valuable fighter but I am very good at finding my way. Besides, I can see the planetary shield generator and you are heading the wrong way.”

He didn't move but she knew that he was looking in the direction she pointed through his HUD. “Shab”, he muttered.

“Would it kill you to bury your pride for a while and let me lead?” His stubbornness was reaching ridiculous levels.

Fett was silent for a while. She could see the exact moment when he caved in. “Alright, lead the way. At best, also point me where to shoot. My vision is a bit blurred.”

Of course. Bounty hunters and their misdirected feelings of pride. “Now, was that so hard?”

“Ne'johaa.”

“Care to translate?”

“No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ne'jooha = Shut up.  
> Shab = Shit
> 
> Everything else you are confused about? Will be explained later or I fucked up while writing.


	9. Chapter 8: Explosive Conflict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, a chapter I'm not satisfied with but I felt like I should continue writing before I just put it in the corner of "I should write but baaaah"-stories that I will probably never finish (or just in the very loooong term).

### Chapter 8: Explosive Conflict

“This is going to be fun”, Leia commented the droids patrolling around the shield generator.

“I count twenty on this side of the building.” Fett looked at her as though waiting for an answer.

Oh, right, he wanted her to confirm his count. Quickly, Leia scanned the area and hoped that she hadn't missed one. “Me too. What now?”

“SOP.”

Finally, an acronym that Leia knew. Standard Operation Procedure. “And what's the standard in this situation?”

“Blast them and hole up or lure them away.” He looked at her. She was pretty sure of it because she had this strange feeling in her neck again as though she was being watched. “Too bad those aren't human men. Then I'd just rip your clothes off.”

“ **What**?”, Leia started and immediately hushed herself. “What?”, she repeated more quietly.

“Most men in security aren't professional enough to stay on their post if there is a mildly attractive woman running while half naked.”

Leia tried not to let her feelings show on her face. So she was only mildly attractive? “I'm very sorry that I'm not able to get myself properly done while we are in a warzone”, she replied with slightly more bite than necessary.

He sighed. She could hear it clearly although the vocoder messed the sound up a bit. “A wise woman once told me that the attractiveness of a person is more than their looks.” He sighed again. “She would be so proud now that I still remember it. Thinking of her... I should have some detonators in that backpack.”

Leia opened the backpack before she realized what Fett had just implied. “You think I look good?”

“That's what you notice?”, he asked back exasperatedly. “We're about to blow this thing sky high and you care about your looks?”

Leia breathed in deeply. “You know what, Fett, I had it up to here with your attitude. You think I'm a superficial brat that's barely able to hold a blaster, am I right?” He didn't nod but she could see how he moved to do it before stopping himself. “Thought so. And you know what? You're right that I didn't fight the kind of battles you fought. And guess what? There's more than one kind of battle and more than one kind of weapon. My looks were my first line of attack to get those Moffs and senators to listen. I have been taught to take care of my weapons, of every weapon I own, so of course, that is what I notice. I have been trained to do that.”

Fett stopped playing with the grenades at his belt at the end of her rant. He seemed to seriously contemplate what she had been saying. Leia on the other hand tried not to blush when she realized that she had become far more worked up than necessary.

“Forget it”, she grumbled, trying not to sound embarrassed. “Give me those grenades.”

“How good are you at throwing?” He handed her the grenades despite his doubtful tone.

“I'm not completely useless, you know. Trust me, I can hit them.” She weighed the grenades carefully in her hands. Well, they were a bit heavier than she was used to with balls and it had been some time but she should be able to get them where she wanted them to be.

“Then hit them hard. They are only droids.” He hesitated for a moment. “And be quick. I modified the grenades to explode very soon.”

“What?” They wouldn't explode in her hand, would they?

“Pull the pin, throw and watch it explode. That's your timeframe.”

Leia blinked irritatedly. “I won't be able to properly take aim then. Why would you even do that?”

“Usually I'm very fast with throwing and aiming. If I hadn't caught this concussion when protecting you from the fall, I could do all of this on my own and wouldn't have to rely on you.”

Leia snorted. “Tough.” Somehow he had managed to make her want to destroy all the droids just with the grenades. Had he wanted to provoke this? How could he be that good at reading and playing her?

She threw the grenades anyway in quick succession and hid again. Fett did the same. The explosions were loud, a lot louder than Leia remembered – although she'd only heard it once or twice, so she couldn't be sure. She should have protected her ears in some way.

Fett gesticulated towards her and then in the direction of the droids. She wasn't exactly sure what he was asking but possibly the number left. Quickly, she glanced around her hiding place's wall and couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in her abilities. “Five”, she held up her hand. Fett nodded, stepped out of hiding – what did he think he was doing? – and blasted the first two droids away before they could react. The three left started firing immediately afterwards. 

_Damn it all_ , Leia thought and started to shoot herself. She wouldn't allow Fett to die before he answered her questions. She also wanted him to admit that he had underestimated her. His self-righteous, better-than-you attitude really made her want to rub it in his face that he wasn't better than her.

Although Fett had mocked the durability of the clone armours during training before, they absorbed the blaster bolts from the droids just fine. A few scorch marks were all that was left after the last droid fell to the ground. He turned around. “Nice shot. Now let's run. Someone will have heard that.”

“You don't say.” Leia ran to his spot, to heave his backpack onto her back and then ran towards him. “Where to?”

“Inside, plant the charges, out, watch it go boom.”

“Boom?”, she asked while trailing along into the building.

“A kid I used to watch out for liked to call explosions that way.” He shook his head as though he wanted to shake off some thoughts. “The both of you are very stubborn … and I couldn't remember the right word.”

Leia sighed. Damn, prideful bounty hunters with concussions. No surprise then that sometimes he had taken a little too long to answer, just a slight moment but now in hindsight she noticed what had felt off. “Alright, now, shouldn't there be someone in here?”

“That's why I go first.” He aimed his rifle the exact moment, they turned around the last corner into the control room. Leia could barely comprehend how fast he shot them. She didn't miss, however, that he shot each of them multiple times. “Now plant the charges. I've got the detonator.”

“I'm on it”, Leia grumbled, placing two charges at the console alone. Maybe she would distribute the others evenly around the walls.

“Put one here. It's a static weakness in buildings like these.” He pointed to a place on the wall that looked exactly the same if someone would ask Leia. She only followed his advice with a raised eyebrow. “I learned from the best. Trust me.”


	10. Chapter 9: Shaking Grounds

### Chapter 9: Shaking Grounds

Obi-Wan and Cody had just secured the control room of the ion cannon when the explosion of something big shook the ground. First he thought of orbital bombardment but that was impossible unless the – of course, Jaster and Leia had succeeded in blowing up the planetary shield generator.

“Cody? I guess you always wanted to operate one of these, am I right?”

He didn't need the Force to know that the clone was smiling broadly beneath the helmet. Cody would never show anything else but the most professional behaviour with the helmet off but during the last battles he had realized that Obi-Wan knew his emotions regardless and it would save both of them energy and trouble if he just admitted to his feelings and then continued fighting.

“General, I would love to.” Cody sat down on one of the seats to operate the ion cannon. “Just tell me where to shoot.”

 

 

Leia could only hear her own blood rushing through her veins after the explosion stopped shaking the ground. She should have packed protection for her ears. This was the second explosion in a short time and if she continued like this she would be deaf in no time – considering 3PO's constant blabbering that actually wouldn't be too bad.

Fett gesticulated in her direction – he had to know that she couldn't hear him – but she didn't understand all of the hand movements. At least some of them were easy enough to translate even without prior knowledge so Leia could guess what he wanted to say. _Run._

She grabbed his hand and let him help her up – one of the explosions had thrown her to the ground. The running itself then, was easier said then done. Leia was sure that the ground was still shaking. Fett pulled her mercilessly along, every now and then looking to the back. His mouth had been set into a grim curve and Leia couldn't help but wonder what he saw there. She didn't dare look back herself because she would stumble and fall.

The first blaster shots absorbed by her armour told her everything she needed to know. Fett turned the next corner he could find and Leia jumped behind him into cover. With haste, she gripped her blaster and sneaked a peek around the corner of the house. Battle droids, a lot of them, a lot more than had been guarding the planetary shield generator.

Slowly, her hearing returned. Her ears were still ringing but at least she was now able to hear what was happening around her. Deafness, even temporary, was a terrible experience.

Leia shook her head and pulled herself together. Aiming, shooting, taking cover. Still the droids were marching. A few hours ago she would have said that she preferred droids as enemies. It was easier to shoot knowing that she wouldn't hurt or kill another sentient being. Now, with the droids marching, not caring how many they lost, they became far more terrifying than stormtroopers.

“Follow me”, Fett bellowed and retreated further before the droids could come close to their corner. Running, hiding. It was like her days in the senate, just as deadly but far more overt. _Run, don't look back unless you want to fall, just run, farther ahead._ The droids were as merciless as the bureaucratic machinery of the Empire.

 

 

“General, now would be the time for you to pull out some kriffing miracle”, Cody announced. “I got sensors blaring all over that droids are closing in on us.”

Obi-Wan hid a frown. “How many more shots until they reach us?”

“Two, maybe three. Four max if I don't have to switch too much between targets.”

“Then let's get some more ships out of that blockade. The last two shots go into Trench's capital ship. Then I'll defend you.”

“It's too much to hope that the seps left a grenade launcher behind, right?”

Obi-Wan smiled. Cody could always lighten his mood although his jokes weren't as obvious as Rex's. “I'm afraid so.”

 

 

Leia needed a few more turns to notice where they were going – obviously Fett had regained his sense of orientation. Defending the only entrance to the ion cannon control building stood General Kenobi, his blue lightsaber out and already deflecting blaster fire. The droids following Fett and Leia weren't the only ones closing in on the building.

“Nice timing”, Kenobi greeted them as soon as they slid into cover in the entrance. Leia had used her last grenade for that and looking at Fett he was out of them, too. “Do you know how to operate an ion cannon?”

It took Leia a moment to realize that he was talking to her. “Theoretically. I got a short introduction once.”

“Then get inside with Jaster. He can do the aiming. Cody and I will hold the entrance.” While still deflecting blaster fire and destroying droids with it, his eyes were able to convey that he knew about Fett's concussion.

“Are you stupid? I'm a good shot, I stay here.” Leia crouched down, blaster in hand, energy cells ready to replace them. “He works better alone anyway.”

“I'm going”, Fett interrupted General Kenobi before he could protest. “Take this one, too. Hopefully, I won't need it inside.” He handed Leia his blaster rifle.

“And what if someone gets inside?” Leia sure wasn't worried but she also sure as the Corellian Hells didn't want to be responsible for his death.

He ducked out of a stray shot. “I've got enough weaponry left. I'm always armed.”

A low, loud flapping sound of big engines slowing down filled the air before Fett could head inside. The cannons of a troop transporter started firing into the group of droids, taking out two or three with one shot. Out of the opened hangar jumped a few clone troopers and one broadly grinning Skywalker. “Master, I thought you could use some help.”

“Anakin, how many times do I have to tell you” he was interrupted by a blaster shot nearly hitting him in the head “that I am not your Master any longer?”

“Come on, aren't you happy to see me?”

General Kenobi shook his head in exasperation while the clones continued to clean up the battlefield. “Never happier, Anakin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, the ground isn't shaking that long after the explosion. Leia's knees on the other hand are.


	11. Chapter 10: Blackmail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm sorry this chapter took so long (it's longer than the last two, though, so I hope that makes up for some of it). I've been in the process of moving for a while now because moving cross-country when you have little money and only a medium-sized car is not that easy with cupboards, shelves and stuff - and let's not forget the books. It doesn't get easier when your landlord is an idiot and doesn't care about the cellar that is always under water. It's a bit draining to always dry it and wait for the damn company to make a date with you to look into it. Well, enough about that. There are still some comments I'm going to answer - I swear to ... my cats' graves, may they live long and loud - and I've read and loved every single one of them. Just so you know. And with that: Have fun reading.

### Chapter 10: Blackmail

The last remnants of the droid army in their sector were cleaned up pretty fast with the arrival of Skywalker and a battalion of clones. That left the princess and Boba to stay behind and get the medical attention at least he himself needed. Afterwards the princess would nail him on his promise. This whole time travel business was far more complicated than she knew and she wouldn't yield until he gave in. For now, though, she carried the last of their equipment and pushed Boba forward so he would see the medics.

Boba sincerely hated them. It reminded him too much of Kamino and although he had never been in the same situations and training as all the other clones he too had gotten his taste of the medical facilities there. There had been check-ups every week when he was still too small to speak. He remembered it clearly. The Kaminoans had said they hadn't modified him but Boba had the same perfect memory as every other clone. It could have been a normal mutation or the Kaminoans had broken their promise. It didn't matter to him. It just meant that he remembered every prick with a needle, every sting and the tubes. He still didn't like dark, enclosed spaces.

The medics couldn't tell him anything he didn't know anyway. Fractured ribs, actually one more than he had guessed and a concussion. No frontline for him, no zero-G but painkillers – thank fuck for that – and check-ups in the next few days unless he wanted to incur the wrath of one medic named Coric from the 501st. Skywalker's personal troupe. Vader's fist. This would take some getting used to. At least they didn't consider him a traitor or deserter any longer. Coric seemed to have informed command that Boba did not share their genetic template exactly and was older than all of them.

The princess didn't let him catch any breath however. She stayed by his side all the time and he knew, he just knew that she was going to bug him further about the time travel thing. Damn concussion. He should have just kept his mouth shut. Now it was too late and he dreaded the moment that the medic would leave them alone. He nearly preferred the needles to the endless questioning he would find himself at the receiving end of.

Boba sighed internally. The medic left. Another sigh, a deep breath. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

The princess crossed her arms – she didn't want him calling her princess but she sure as dar'manda hadn't earned the right yet to be on first name basis. He had to admit, though, that she was giving it her all. Her fighting spirit at least was mandokarla. The rest? Well, he had to see about that.

“Everything would be a start”, she answered with a snide remark.

Boba bit back a snort. “They never told me everything to begin with but I can tell you everything you need to know to not frack everything up here.” He leaned forward – forgetting his ribs and, osik, he should not do this but he would rather die than show it on his face. “Shut the fuck up and follow my lead.”

The princess raised one eyebrow. “How about no? You know what is going on here so you tell me. I need to know.”

She was stubborn, he had to give her that. Boba still didn't feel like cooperating. This subject had never been his favourite. He really shouldn't have leaned forward. His chest muscles started to cramp in an effort to relieve some of the pain. “Well, this is a family matter and I don't feel like talking about it to an outsider.”

Her brows furrowed. “I'm not above blackmail, you know? I might just tell people that Jango Fett is still alive and posing as a clone trooper...”

“How-?” He bit his lower lip before he could finish his question. The painkillers messed with his head. Otherwise he would never have let this slip.

A triumphant smirk flitted around the lips of the princess before she turned serious again. “I may not have lived through this time but I'm not stupid. What better way to conceal his own death than use a clone and pose as that exact clone?” She took a few steps forward and leaned down so that her face was on the same height as his and she could spit into his eyes – although he doubted a princess of Alderaan would resort to such lowly manners.

“It's not a long shot.” Boba ran his hand through his hair and sat upright again. The princess was a lot better at this fighting with words game and far more ruthless than he had thought she would be. He might just as well save himself the headache and just tell her what she wanted to know – maybe he could even omit a few details that she really didn't have to know. “Alright, I yield but this is the only time. No more questions after this.”

Promptly, the princess sat down and crossed her legs on the floor so that Boba had the choice of either towering over her – tempting – or sitting down, too, and showing signs of a familiarity he didn't feel. He gave in and sat down with enough space between them that it didn't look too familiar. They had been in battle together but that wasn't enough to earn a friendly demeanor.

“Let's start with the easy part. Who is your father? Not Jango Fett, the other one.” She seemed to try at playing nice and yet she picked questions Boba wanted to answer even less than others.

He sighed, loudly. “Garen Tachi.”

Her eyes widened. “But he's a member of the Alliance. He's your father? Why do you take bounties for the Empire then?” Her confusion was genuine as far as Boba could tell.

“First and foremost he's a Mandalorian clan leader”, Boba snapped. “He's a father and he's my father. I don't get why he loves your rebellion so much or helps you in whichever way he can but he's not one of you.”

The princess' eyes commented something along the lines of “touchy, are we?” yet she didn't speak that thought out loud and Boba was thankful for it. This kind of emotional outburst was just plain embarrassing. It hadn't been that bad since the early days of the Clone Wars – the first time – when his father had adopted another child as his son and Boba had had to share. He had been ten and not a big fan of sharing his fathers with anyone.

“Alright. So your father is an ally but you still work for the Empire? That doesn't make sense.”

Boba chuckled. He'd heard that often when he was younger and still living with his family. “It doesn't to you and it doesn't have to. It's Mandalorian culture, so nothing an aruetii would understand.” He got a grip on himself again. “Now, do we really want to talk about my family and our different workplaces?”

The princess seemed torn between both options. She was curious but she reigned it in and concentrated again on her topic. “What do you know about how your father travelled through time? Did he also use an artefact, did he travel multiple times?” The questions were shot at him in short succession and each of them made sense. The princess was trying to get to know the limits of their current situation.

“Not much, I don't know but I don't think so and I don't know but am pretty sure that not.” Boba wished that his father had talked to him about time travel but even that his father had travelled through time had been something that Boba had had to figure out for himself.

“You know, for someone acting all high and mighty and all-knowing about time travel, you sure know very little.” The princess crossed her arms and winced. She seemed to have taken a hit there and hid it from the medics.

“You asked the wrong questions. My father didn't talk much about it. Hells, I'm not even sure if he talked about it to d- my other father.” Boba bit his lower lip. The princess sure as hells wasn't a person he would like to hear him calling Jango his dad although that had always been his name for Jango. Garen was father. “Before you ask. I figured it out myself through circumstances and a bit of luck and that's all I'm going to tell you about father. If you want to know more, you have to ask him yourself.”

“So, where is he now?” The princess didn't seem intimidated one bit at the prospect of meeting a time traveller and Mandalorian warrior.

Boba thought about it for a moment. “Coruscant, I guess. I remember us being there in the first few days. He's been on all kind of black ops later, though.”

“Then we should meet them there.” She seemed determined. “You said they knew that you would be here in your future and their past so they made you learn everything? Then we should go and meet them so they know. I think you mentioned how we should not cause paradoxes, that's the way, I guess.”

Boba wasn't so sure if it really was that easy. Father had always seemed very anxious and nervous when deciding on bigger business and had often consulted with a friend of his on Tatooine – someone called Ben. Time seemed to be a difficult business and one that Boba had never thought to tread in at that. He really preferred business where he could just shoot targets and be done with it. It was less of a headache.

“You seem nervous”, the princess noticed. “Is he that terrifying? I only met him briefly in the aftermath of the battle but he didn't strike me as a terror.”

“He can be”, was all Boba answered. He remembered too well how father would react to threats to his family. "Are you satisfied now?"

She mulled over something. He recognized the light furrow in her brow, had gotten used to some of her tells over the time they had spent together in close quarters. “No, something has been bugging me... Wait, you said that you needed me to activate the artefact we used or one similar to it...”, she thought out loud and Boba didn't like the direction her thoughts were taking. “And after we landed... well, hit the ground, you said that any Force user would do...” She looked at him expectantly to speak out loud what she was already guessing at. “I'm a Force user? But I can't … I mean... I would have – wouldn't I?”

Boba didn't have to answer and he really, really didn't want to. What should he say? That he knew that his father had been present at her birth? That he had checked up on her from time to time? That father and dad had had hushed conversations now and then when they thought that their kids had been sleeping? How they had talked about the twins and how they could hide them better? How they were shielding them in the Force so the Empire wouldn't find them?

No, he couldn't say any of it, so he kept his silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this chapter has been delving a bit deeper into some of the questions I started a few chapters back and I know that you have new questions and I'm not sure when I'm going to answer them during the story. You'll just have to live with the pain of not knowing for a while.  
> I'm also not sure when I'm going to write Boba's pov again but it has been a good choice for this chapter, I guess and at least helped with a bit of the blockade. Nanowrimo did the rest. And a little promise from Fetts. And your comments. So yeah, thank you all. I hope I can keep up the writing with this one (and write the Mercenary, so you get to know how the fuck Jango ended up with a time traveller as his husband).


	12. Chapter 11: The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!

### Chapter 11: The Aftermath

Fett had been unusually silent the days after Leia had questioned him. He wasn't a big talker anyway but the last few days he'd been nothing more than a mute ghost. Leia wasn't in the mood for talking as well. The discussion with Fett still weighed heavy on her bones and she tried her best to not get in his way. Actually, she tried to stay out of everyone's way.

What Fett had implied … about her being a Force user … She just couldn't wrap her head around it. Shouldn't she have known somehow? Shouldn't she have felt it? And, more importantly, what should she do with this new knowledge? She couldn't very well walk up to General Kenobi and ask to be trained, could she?

Leia sighed and buried her head in her hands. Time travel, she being a Jedi, it was too much. And then there was the whole mystery of Boba Fett. He couldn't just be simple and it was frustrating. One moment she could think of him as an ally and a possible friend. The next she could just shoot him for being such an obnoxious bastard. He was worse than Solo.

“M'lady, sorry to interrupt”, one of the clones said. Cody with the yellow markings. Why did he have to share the same voice with Fett? It made her want to strangle him. “You're blocking a fire exit.”

Leia looked up. “Oh, I'm sorry.” Swiftly, she moved two feet away from her current position. “Better now?”

“Yes.”

The clone didn't leave. Leia thought one minute about ignoring him, then sighed and looked up again. “What is it?”

“The General has left. Someone asked specifically for him to attend a mission.”

Leia frowned. “Sounds like a trap.”

She didn't expect the clone to drop down next to her, sigh and take off his helmet with another sigh. “That's what we all think but the General said he knows the person and I really don't like it.”

“Sabotage his shuttle, then he can't leave.” Leia shrugged her shoulders. She had tried to do that once when she had been younger to keep her father from leaving. Unnecessary to say that it hadn't worked out and that some of her privileges had been revoked for months.

“He's already gone with Commander Skywalker.”

So that's why they had left hyperspace a while ago and jumped back in shortly after. Leia sighed again. So she was left with two clones she barely knew – Fett and Cody – and a ship full of strangers. Great. Well, it could have come worse. She could be back on the Death Star, for example.

“The fleet is under Yularen's command for the moment”, Cody added. “He wants us to stop and refuel at the next base.” Short pause. “I would rather look after the General. He tends to put himself in trouble.”

“It looks that way. I never would have thought … I heard that General Kenobi is a hero but he just … seems to be so irresponsible?” It was hard to put in words. “That thing with the shield generator. We could have all died.”

Before Cody could answer, a signal horn blared through the corridors. No alarm, luckily.

“I should head to the bridge, make everything ready for our arrival on Alderaan.” Cody stood up and put his helmet back on and Leia was thankful for it because otherwise he would have seen how every bit of colour was drained from her face.

“Alderaan?”, she queried and did her best to veil the shock in her voice. “I thought it was a peaceful planet.”

“It's part of the Republic, so they are part of the war.” Cody snorted. “War doesn't stop for the peaceful. As far as I heard, Alderaan refused to send troops, so they support the war effort by other means.” There were hints of bitterness in his voice. “Alderaan pays and we die. That's how it is.”

Leia had never heard about that part of Alderaan's history. All the bloody battles in the past between the houses, yes, that had been part of her education. That Alderaan had supported the Clone Wars? She'd never heard about that. Her knowledge of the past was quite lacking it seemed.

“Will we get shore leave on planet?”, she asked. Hopeful. Fearful. Alderaan, her home. She had seen it being blown into pieces. Could she stand to see it now and know that it would die in two decades?

“Yularen's decision.” Cody shrugged his shoulders. “Don't block any more fire exits.” And then he left and left Leia behind with her thoughts and her confusion.

She was a Jedi. Garen Tachi was a time traveller. He was Boba Fett's father. She was a Jedi. They were going to arrive at Alderaan soon.

If she was a more delicate woman, Leia thought, she could just faint and be done with it. But she wasn't, so she had to work it out and calm down and then she could think straight again and get this whole mess sorted.

Instead she sighed and got up, just as the ship left hyperspace. Before she could stop herself, she ran to the nearest lookout and took the planet beneath her in. Alderaan. Blue, white and green home. Tears welled up in her eyes. The last time she had seen it was so long ago and yet not. Not even a month ago that she had seen how Alderaan was blasted to dust by Tarkin. She braced herself with her hands against the window and let the sobs come and choke her with sadness. Twenty years, only twenty more years before Alderaan would vanish, leaving only a handful survivors and horrors.

“So it's true then”, a sudden voice made her jump. 

Fett. Of course it was Fett. How he had found her, she could only guess but if she had to bet money, it would be on a hidden tracker somewhere in her armour.

“What?”, she asked hoarsely, although she could also guess what he meant. It wasn't terribly difficult.

“I was on a job when it must have happened. Heard that Alderaan was gone and couldn't believe it.”

“I saw it”, Leia said, her voice still hoarse and bitter. “Tarkin made a warning example of Alderaan. He wanted to show off his terror's power.”

“I thought it impossible”, Fett admitted. “I had heard stories about the Force destroying worlds but I never believed it could happen with … technology. I should have known better.”

“Alderaan wasn't the first.” She wasn't sure why she told him that. Maybe because she had no one else with whom she could share the pure terror of witnessing a planet's death. “It was used before but not at full power. Have you heard of Jedha?” She looked at him and he nodded curtly, curious. “They said it was a mining accident. I've never seen a mining accident like it. You would be surprised how many mining accidents you get to see on diplomatic help missions.” She snorted. “Half of the planet was eradicated, the dust hadn't settled and it looked … it looked as though the earth itself had risen in pain and anger. There was nothing left to identify what had been there before. The temples of Jedha, all that history … gone.”

“I've heard of that. Was Scarif the same?”

“How did you know?” Leia looked up in surprise. How could he know that she had been there?

“My father. He said it was you who transported the plans, so you must have been there when they fought there.”

She nodded. “Yes, I was there but I didn't see much as I was already on the _Tantive IV_ in the hangar of Admiral Raddus' _Profundity_ and-”

“Hold a moment”, Fett interrupted her. He put his head on one side as though listening and she guessed he was just getting a message via helmet comlink. “We've been given shore leave”, he announced then. “Pallista spaceport and the surrounding area have been cordoned off to allow for troop exercise while we wait for Kenobi and Skywalker to return.”

“We're given leave as well?”, she asked surprised. Actually, Leia had thought that they would still be held under strict supervision. The allegations of being a spy were not easily dismissed, not with only one accurate information.

“As long as we stay in the military area. You want to go?”

“I would regret it if I don't.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I so do hope that they fuck out that UST soon. You're not alone there, y'all.


	13. Chapter 12: Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took me this long. Real life, you know the deal. But I'm back and hopefully for longer than just this chapter.

### Chapter 12: Home

Leia woke to find it had only been a dream. She could still hear the screams ringing in her ears, though. The bright light of the explosion still blinded her although she knew that actually she couldn't see because it was dark. She shivered while fighting down the terror of living through the death of Alderaan again. Just that this time … This time she had felt it as though it had been herself, as though every death had been her own. She fought to keep the bile down that was rising in her throat.

It had been a mistake. She should have never set foot on Alderaan. With a sigh, she threw the blanket off. She wouldn't be able to return to sleep now.

Hurriedly, she put on her under-armour wear and moved to leave the garrison where they were stationed at the moment. It was a leftover from the Cold War, thousands of years ago, and had only been refurbished lately for the Clone Wars. The building still showed enough signs that for years it had housed manka cats and nerfs.

Leia hurried outside onto a walkway. This enclosed space only reminded her of her cell on the Death Star, a memory she didn't need right now.

The air was warm and smelled of home, of long nights spent outside on summer parties. It brought up so many memories of her home but also, inevitably, the memory of its destruction. Leia couldn't stop to think that she had to stop this from happening. If she had to choose between stopping the destruction of Alderaan and going back to her time, she would rather stay in the Clone Wars. Even with Boba Fett.

She looked at the familiar stars and constellations, blinking away the tears starting to gather in her eyes. This was home and yet it wasn't. It smelled like home, it looked like home but alone the existence of this garrison was enough to remind her that this wasn't home. She had been displaced in time and this was the first time she really felt it.

Some movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and Leia wasn't sure whether she was actually surprised to see Fett outside.

"So you couldn't sleep either," she moved towards him. She wasn't even sure what made her seek his company. Maybe because he always seemed so stoic and calm and she needed someone right now.

"Nightmares." He answered with a shrug and continued to stare blankly into the dark void of the fields outside the garrison.

"Me too," Leia admitted. "Of the destruction. I dreamt that I was everyone who died here."

Fett hummed in agreement. "It's possible. You are Force sensitive and as far as I know, the Force doesn't care much about time and space."

"So you think that's how they felt when they were killed?" Leia shuddered. It was hard to even think of it. To consider the possibility that it had been real or would be real.

"I don't know. If it's the Force, then I really don't know. My father might have been a Jedi but he was never open about it and the Jedi I worked with during the Clone Wars," he interrupted himself with a half-smirk that Leia found weirdly attractive. "The first time I was in the Clone Wars, those Jedi didn't teach me anything. After all, I was just the son of a mercenary and Mandalorian who was doing dirty jobs for them."

"Did you ... You really fought in the Clone Wars? But you were a child then?"

"I was." His eyes turned grim and dark and he leaned forward onto the railing of the walkway. "The separatists didn't care and neither did the Jedi when they killed my father on Geonosis."

"That's terrible." Leia was beginning to understand why the Clone Wars were considered so horrifying. Child soldiers... It was so wrong.

"I don't need your pity," he said gruffly. "I had a family and I survived. That's more than most had."

"I don't pity you," Leia answered with fire. "I'm just beginning to understand that you have been right. I might have been a bit naive concerning the Clone Wars."

Fett only hmpfed.

"You know, you could actually treat me like a human being and dignify me with an answer. That's called respecting each other." She didn't even know why she minded so much that he was by all means being an antisocial bastard. Maybe because she might find him slightly attractive. Maybe because he was the only one who more or less understood how she felt.

"Or you could shut up and respect my preference of silence."

"Then shut me up." The words were out of her mouth before she realized that they could be read as shameless flirting.

She certainly didn't expect him to take her up on it. Suddenly she was pressed against the railing, with his hands in her back and his lips pressing on hers. Leia didn't fight him. First, she was too surprised, then she thought that it was actually quite alright having him kiss her. He was attractive after all and - he began licking his way into her mouth - he was quite the kisser. She opened her mouth to him and moaned appreciatively when he took control of the situation.

It was strangely fitting, that the first man she ever kissed would kiss her like this on a planet destined to die far too soon in a night where everything was overshadowed from nightmares. He kissed her like she was the only anchor in a sea of unnamed horrors and he was drowning in them. He kissed her like she would be breaking apart if he didn't hold her close.

Then he suddenly let her go. Leia looked at him confused because it had been so good and she had felt so ... protected. His eyes were shadowed and his expression had something of a caged animal that's been backed into a corner.

Leia got the feeling that he was about to run. "Don't ... ," she said and carefully touched his hand.

He flinched. "I shouldn't have -"

"I liked it," she said immediately. "I was just surprised. I didn't think you cared."

Fett huffed a breath. "You make it very difficult not to care."

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing." Leia wasn't sure what to make of this. She knew there were right words to say but they wouldn't come to her. Instead she had to hope that she wouldn't mess this up. Not only because Fett was her only ally here but also because this kiss, this had been possibilities and she liked those possibilities. He was a good person under all that armour and maybe he was even a person capable of love.

"It makes things difficult." He turned away his hand still in touch with hers. "There's a thousand good reasons to act like this never happened."

Leia crossed her arms. "Name one."

He looked at her like he was ready to say something. Then he sighed. "You're just going to dismantle every argument I'm going to make."

"Words is what I am good at," Leia answered with a smirk.

"Then just think of this. When we get back, what will you do? You're a rebel leader and a princess. I'm a bounty hunter." He looked straight at her, dark eyes piercing hers.

"When? More like 'if' if you ask me," Leia muttered. Then she looked up at him. "I could say that I don't care and just want to enjoy this while it lasts but I get the feeling this answer won't satisfy you. So I will answer this. I will continue to be a rebel leader. I will find those Alderaanians that weren't on the planet and I will find a new home for us. I have a duty to fulfil and that's what I will do. It's your choice if you will become a part of that or if our ways will part then. But until then ... well, just as you're the only one who understands where I come from, I'm the only one for you."

He looked at her for a moment longer and then hummed in agreement. "I can deal with that."

"Then ... could you maybe hold me for a while? I just want to forget about those nightmares. They felt so real." Leia shuddered.

"If it was a Force vision, it probably was real or very close to being real." He embraced her from behind. "If they become worse, you should consider talking to a Jedi about training. I've heard that untrained Force sensitives can be driven to madness by visions."

"And you're telling me this now?" Leia tried to keep her voice low and failed.

"You didn't ask."

"Alright, Boba, I think I can call you Boba now, if this is supposed to work, you might want to tell me things that might impact my health or sanity."

"Jaster. You never know who might listen, so call me Jaster."

Leia sighed when he pointedly didn't answer her question. "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

"Probably." Fett shrugged. "It never is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it took me this long to finally have them kiss. Anyway, first step to resolving all that tension. Just ... as we both know them, it won't stay quiet and easy.


	14. Chapter 13 - Fallout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They kissed last time. Now they have to have the Talk. You know. Because Leia is not just gonna accept things as they happen.

### Chapter 13: Fallout

Leia groaned the next morning when waking up and Boba agreed with her. They had had far too little sleep. He had held her until the darkest hours of the night had passed. There hadn't been any more kisses or even anything remotely erotic and he didn't mind, actually. Leia was complicated enough as was. He really didn't need things to become even more complicated with feelings being thrown in the mix.

He hurried in the fresher and took care of his morning routine while Leia was slowly waking up. This had worked well so far. She wasn't the laziest noble he had ever met but a noble nonetheless. At least she had been raised like one while he had already been fighting wars. They were so different. He really didn't know what had possessed him to kiss her like that.

She stumbled past him into the fresher after Boba had finished shaving. He was ready to find the commissary now but he guessed that she would just get lost on her own. While they were here, she kind of was his charge, so it wouldn't do to lose her. So he waited until she was also finished and ready to get something to eat.

 

 

The commissary was almost empty. Most of the clones had already eaten and there were only a few of them left and a group of officer's was still having breakfast in the far corner. Boba got his portion and was just thankful that they were on-planet and it wasn't dry rations. He could eat dry rations, he didn't have any problem with eating them for days on end but, given the choice, he preferred real food.

Leia was munching rather halfheartedly her portion and she seemed to be lost in thought. She probably was used better food growing up on Alderaan. Boba wondered what she would think of Mandalorian rations and had to hide a smile at the thought. Uj-cake wasn't for everyone.

"What is going to happen with us?", Leia asked after finishing her portion.

Boba shrugged. "I guess we will stay here for one more day at most and then go on to the next battlefield."

She smiled. It was a nice smile, Boba guessed. He'd never been good at this kind of thing. "I meant the two of us. How are we going to proceed now?"

"I don't know," he admitted freely. His only experiences in this area were with Sintas mostly and the occasional fling with another bounty hunter.

"Why did you kiss me?", she continued asking. And the difficult questions at that.

"Why did you kiss back?", he tried to divert her attention.

"You are trying to evade the question." The problem with Leia was that she was a noble and a politician. His experiences with words weren't good enough to distract her.

"Maybe." Boba brushed through his hair - he should trim it again soon. "Thing is, I don't know. I kissed you because it seemed to fit in the moment."

Leia sighed as though he had said something wrong. "Alright, since the subtle approach doesn't work with you, let's be blunt. I want to know whether you have feelings for me."

Boba snorted. "I'm not in love with you, if that's what you're worried about." He hesitated. She wanted to be blunt, yes? Well, so could he. "I do feel a certain attraction to you, however. You're smart, good in a fight and easy on the eyes. I've met worse people."

"So kissing me was just a whimsical move to satisfy some curiosity or whatever?" She was short of raising her voice to dangerous levels. The group of officers was already looking in their direction.

"So what if it was? Not every intimacy has to be true love." Boba was slowly growing irritated. "If it's annoying you this much, we can act like it didn't happen." That had worked in the past at least with some acquaintances.

"Now we're getting somewhere." Her eyes were fiery. He liked it. "It was a spur of the moment decision without any big feelings behind it. Why not just say so?" She shook her head. "Not like I expected something else of a bounty hunter."

Boba growled slightly. She made it sound like he slept around on a whimsy and had no heart to feel anything. "I'm not some heartless bastard, princess," he growled. "I just don't like to overcomplicate things."

"What part of us kissing isn't complicated?", she asked somewhere between seriousness and lighthearted banter. "You're a bounty hunter and I'm the last princess of a dead planet. I'm rebel scum and you hire out to the Empire."

Boba shook his head. She had to go and make it complicated. "Back in our time, yes. Not here." He reached for his water. Good, fresh water, not the recycled stuff on board. "I don't see why we shouldn't enjoy what we have as long as it lasts. We might die soon enough."

She seemed to understand. "That's a very pragmatical view of things," she said then. "I guess that's life for a bounty hunter."

"No, that's life in a war," he corrected. "Though, I guess, most bounty hunters live their life as though in a war." He shrugged. "Why miss out on the good things in life when you could die every day? You see," he started when she grabbed her own water. "I could see myself fucking you senseless."

She snorted water. "What?", she exclaimed then and drew the eyes of everyone onto them. "What?", she asked again, quieter this time. "I thought you didn't- oh. You mean like a fling?"

He wondered for a short moment how it must have been growing up like her that even the idea of casual sex was strange. Boba had gotten sex education from one of his father's many acquaintances that had also worked as a high class prostitute and escort and had a very loose mouth about these matters. "I mean, whenever we feel like it."

"Well, I don't feel like it." She started to wipe up the water. "I'm a princess. I don't just have sex."

Boba shrugged. "That's your decision."

He stood up, brought back his tablet and then left. She would need time to think and he needed that time as well. He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that and he hadn't anticipated that her world had been so different from his.

 

He'd had at least some time to think while maintaining his weaponry before Leia returned. "So?", he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I'm not here to talk any more about that. I'm just ... I wanted to ask about what you said last night. About Force sensitives going mad." She looked lost like someone had left her standing in the rain of Kamino. She looked a bit lost and scared and vulnerable. "Is it true?"

Boba shrugs. "I don't know. I heard rumours and I've seen crazed Jedi but they had gone over the edge for different reasons." He had seen his father when Order 66 had been issued. His father was the most steadfast man he knew apart from his dad but in that time span he had looked as though he was going mad. He had said that it hurt and that they were screaming in his head and that there was a wound and it was bleeding into everything. Boba hadn't understood it and he probably never would but it had scared him enough to be seared into his memory.

"Do you think we should ask Master Kenobi for help?" She bit her lip. "Even though we would have to reveal then that I am Force sensitive and we kept that from them at first."

"Kenobi?" Boba scoffed. "Kenobi is a disaster. You want to know about visions and learn how to deal with them, you should ask other Jedi. Someone like Yoda."

"Who's Yoda?"

"As far as I know, he's the oldest living Jedi." Boba put away his blasters after having cleaned them thoroughly. "Thing with the Jedi is that they don't like older, untrained Sensitives. They usually take babies and train them. You are far too old to be trained. At best they just let you leave, at worst ..." Boba left the sentence unfinished.

"At worst?"

"From what I learnt the Jedi don't like deviants outside of their influence."

"But they are Jedi, they won't kill me," Leia protested.

"No, but they could make you vanish, disappear in red tape." Boba shrugs. "As long as they think they are acting for the best of the galaxy, of course."

There was a frown on her face now. "I think we learnt very different things about the Jedi."

"Of course. You heard stories from your Jedi-supporting father. I saw them rip children from their families. I saw them kill my father." Not that it had lasted but still, thinking of the arena of Geonosis made Boba remember the pain of losing his father.

"So I will have to work through this on my own." She sighed. "That's going to be great."

Boba huffed a breath. "You could always decide to trust the Jedi but I wouldn't do it."

"No you would rather, how did you say it?, fuck me senseless?", she replied sarcastically. "No, sorry, forget I just said that. I didn't want to talk about it."

"I'm not a fan of talking but maybe we should," Boba admitted. Ancestors, he hated this emotional talk. "I wouldn't have said that I wanted to fuck you, had I known that you were this ... innocent." He just caught himself before saying prudish. She probably wouldn't like that.

"You think I'm a prude, right?" She spoke like she had just read his mind. "I can see it in your face."

Boba had forgotten about that. He was so used to wearing his helmet all the time that he forgot about controlling his mimic now and then. "I think... something like that. I'm not in the mood to think of a diplomatic way to say it." That's why he hated this kind of talk.

"Are you ever?", she mumbled. "Anyway, I'm _not_ prudish. I'm just ... not very experienced. I ... when I was younger I would mostly read and learn about politics and diplomacy. I wasn't really thinking about boys or girls or, well, anyone. There was one and we were romantically involved before we even started kissing." She played with some strands of hair as if nervous. "Alderaan is a pretty open culture when it comes to this kind of thing. Have you ever been to an Alderaanian bachelor party? It's disgustingly extravagant and kind of an orgy. I just never ... maybe I'm a bit of a romantic."

"I see that." Her rambling reminded Boba of home and his family. "Then let's put it that way. I'm attracted to you and I wouldn't mind sharing some intimate moments. Think about it and decide."

"Thank you. I ... I will," she stumbled over her words. It was interesting to see how the eloquent diplomat and politician was gone and left behind a young, vulnerable woman. It made Leia more real and let him forget about the princess and the what-afters. "And, you know, I may be attracted to you too."

Boba bit down a comment about his charms or whatever it might have been that made Leia be attracted to him. Instead he tried to remember his manners. "Thank you," he said and tried a smile. "Take all the time you need. Just remember that here you're not a princess. Here you're just another warrior in a giant army that doesn't care for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter but I'm also not sure how I would change it to make it better. So I'll leave this here for the time being until some muse comes down from the writer's heavens and enlightens me.  
> Also, stuff to say about this chapter. I will tell you how Jango Fett could die on Geonosis and still be alive. In another chapter or maybe not even in this story. But - well - if you're also reading MYMI you already know the answer.  
> Also, Leia has had some experiences in the past with a woman. You can decide for yourself whether that was Amilyn Holdo or someone else but I will go with Holdo. (Holdo was the new woman Admiral in The Last Jedi)  
> Alderaanian bachelor party. Now, this is heavily based on SWTOR but there the Alderaanian nobles were disgustingly decadent. I wouldn't put it past them to have orgies and disgustingly obscene bachelor parties.


End file.
